


Balance

by SteamTrain52



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate universe where Ben Skywalker from Legends is in Canon, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-03-21 16:22:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 79,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13744767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteamTrain52/pseuds/SteamTrain52
Summary: My own take on the Star Wars Universe, based on what I think it would be like if Ben Skywalker (Luke's son) was in Canon, not just Legends.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. This is my take on what I think would happen in the Star Wars Universe if Disney hadn’t written off a bunch of really important characters to bring Rey, Finn etc in. 
> 
> Specifically, this story will be focused on Ben Skywalker, Luke’s son, and will be set before and during The Force Awakens and onwards. 
> 
> I have changed quite a bit of the storyline, for example Ben Solo’s name has been changed back to Jacen Solo, which was his name in the universe now known as “Legends”. I have also changed Ben Skywalker’s mother, for reasons that are actually quite important to how I am portraying him. Anyway, this story begins in the year 24 ABY. For those of you who don’t know, that’s twenty years after Return of the Jedi and ten years before The Force Awakens. 
> 
> In case you are wondering what Ben looks like, I’m kind of picturing him as a Nathaniel Buzolic-type figure (aka Kol from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals). I don’t know why, I just am. Feel free to picture him as somebody else. 
> 
> I don't own Star Wars.
> 
> I hope you guys like my story about it, though.

It wasn't that Ben hated his father. Far from it. After all, Luke Skywalker was one of the main reasons why the Empire had been destroyed, for two decades now. He was also a kind, patient man, and a very good teacher in the ways of the Force. When Ben had been born, the result of a brief fling between Luke and a Mandalorian woman named Mira Kryze, Luke had not treated his bastard son with disgust, but rather came to visit him on Mandalore every chance he got, even while he was looking to bring back the Jedi Order. Ben's earliest memories were of him listening wide-eyed to his father telling him stories of the Rebellion, and the Jedi and Sith.

His mother had stories too, though, when Luke wasn't around. Mandalore was famous throughout the galaxy for its history of warrior people, many of whom had fought the Jedi and Sith across thousands of years. Clan Kryze had also played a part in the Galactic Civil War when Mira's mother, the legendary Bo-Katan Kryze, had wielded the Darksaber, the black-bladed lightsaber which now stood on Mira's mantlepiece gathering dust. When Ben was five years old, he had tried to reach out to take the Darksaber (without his mother's permission). Although his outstretched hand had been at least a foot away from the mantlepiece, Ben had somehow found himself holding the Darksaber. He had even managed to activate it. Had Mira not entered the room at that very moment, Ben might very well have caused some serious damage to himself and everything around him. After Mira was done scolding Ben within an inch of his life, she had put two and two together, contacted Luke, and the next thing Ben knew, he was being shipped off to his father's recently-completed Jedi Temple on Ossus. It was there that Ben met his cousin for the first time, the boy Jacen, who was only a year older than him. As Ben had never left Mandalore, he had been feeling very lonely, missing his mother dearly, so he was grateful for the friendship his cousin offered him. The two of them were Luke's first students, and as the years passed their numbers had grown. Now, with Ben having recently celebrated his eighteenth birthday, there were several dozen students in his father's Jedi Temple.

Ben did not resent his father for fixing the damage that Ben's grandfather, Anakin, who the galaxy knew as Darth Vader, had caused. He did not even resent Luke for the power Ben had inherited. After all, Ben was often able to visit his mother and her new husband on Mandalore, along with the half-sisters who were always ecstatic to see their big Jedi brother. It was not like being a Jedi stopped Ben from being a person.

No, what Ben resented was the fact that being a Skywalker meant pretty much everyone had unfair expectations of him.

Coming from perhaps the most famous family in the galaxy meant that people were always watching Ben, waiting to see if he would do something to prove himself worthy of the Skywalker name. The other students always gave Ben a wide berth, and whenever he tried to talk to them, they would always find some excuse to be somewhere else. Even Jacen had started evading Ben a few years before to fit in with the other students, which Ben found particularly upsetting, considering that Jacen was just as much Darth Vader's grandson as Ben was. Apparently not actually having the Skywalker name made it easy for people to forget Jacen was from the Skywalker family. Fortunately, Ben's aunt Leia, Jacen's mother, had seen what was going on and reprimanded her son severely for the way he was neglecting his cousin.

Leia became Ben's favourite extended family member after that. It seemed that she was the only one who didn't judge him for his name. Well, her and Chewbacca, the big Wookie always greeting Ben with a rib-cracking embrace every time they met, either on Ossus or off-world. Even Leia's husband, the former smuggler Han Solo, always watched Ben with an almost unconscious wariness, which Ben could always sense no matter how much Han hid it behind his smile.

But the one person Ben wished didn't judge him for being a Skywalker was his father.

Ever since Ben came to Ossus, he and Luke had… well, struggled was probably the right word for it. In Luke's defence, it was hard to be both master and father, but Ben often found himself wishing Luke was just one or the other. The fact that Luke was Ben's father could often be seen in Ben's training, Luke regularly seeing faults where there were none, always pushing Ben to be better, more skilled than the other students, often giving Ben extra lessons in lightsaber combat, having him lift heavier and heavier objects with the Force… the list went on and on. As a result, Ben was easily Luke's best student, being able to lift things with the Force most of the other students couldn't even jostle. This did not improve the relations Ben had with them. Through Luke's extensive focus on him, Ben had also learned the art of _Jar'Kai_ , the method of using two lightsabers in combat instead of one. Nobody else had learned the style, not even Jacen, and it was kind of hard for people to like you when you possessed an unfair advantage over them.

Ben knew Luke just didn't want his son going down the same road as his own father, and he knew that Luke was proud of what he had achieved, but at the same time… Ben wished his dad wasn't giving him such special treatment. He and Jacen were still friends, of course, but even he had been drifting away from Ben recently, and Ben was trying not to panic at the idea of losing his only companion.

But if Ben was honest with himself, Luke's favouritism wasn't the reason Ben felt out of place in his father's Temple. At least, not the only reason. Ever since he could remember, Ben had had a fascination with the dark side Luke had been unable to dislodge. Ben had no interest in becoming a Sith, but to him it seemed like the dark side was at least worth understanding. After all, it was as much a part of the Force as the light, which meant that no matter how much Ben trained as a Jedi, being a Jedi meant that he would only ever half understand the Force itself. All Ben had to go on the dark side was Luke's frequent warnings against it, which wasn't much help. From what Luke said, those who studied the dark side did so because they were selfish and power-hungry, of which Ben was neither (at least, he hoped he wasn't). Also, from what Ben knew of the history of the galaxy, the very first Force-sensitives, the Je'daii, had been able to wield both the light _and_ dark sides of the Force. At some point, they had split into the two groups that would be known as the Jedi and Sith, but Ben was convinced that if it had been done before, he could probably do it. Unfortunately, Ben knew nothing of the Je'daii beyond their ability to use both sides of the Force, and he knew Luke would never willingly allow Ben to study the dark side. The way Ben saw it, the best way to study the Je'daii, and through them, the dark side, would be at their own Temple, but unfortunately he had absolutely no idea where it was, or if it even still existed. But he knew someone who might.

When Ben was thirteen, Han had taken him and Jacen to the planet Takodana, where they'd been introduced to the "Pirate Queen" Maz Kanata, a force-sensitive alien who ran a watering hole for smugglers. Maz had amazed Ben and Jacen with stories of her adventures over her thousand-year life, many of which involved Jedi in some way. Ben was certain that if anyone in the galaxy knew the location of a Je'daii Temple, it would be Maz, but he needed an excuse to reach her. One that Luke wouldn't question.

As Luke and Ben ate dinner that night, Ben tried to work up the courage to tell his father what he had planned. Fortunately, Luke solved the problem for him.

'You've been very quiet tonight. Are you alright?'

'Yes', Ben answered, a little too quickly.

'Are you sure? Because I've been sensing conflict within you pretty much all day. Is something wrong?'

'No, no', Ben replied. "I've just been thinking… there's something I want to do."

'What is it?' Luke prompted, gently.

'I want to go on a… pilgrimage'.

Luke couldn't help but stare in disbelief at his son. 'What?' he said. 'Where?'

'The other Jedi temples. The ones inhabited by our predecessors.'

'Why?' Luke asked. This was very unlike Ben. His son rarely liked stepping outside his comfort zone, most likely due to the stress of leaving Mandalore at such a young age.

'I…' Ben began. 'You're a great teacher, you really are, but I feel… stuck. Like there's only so much you can teach me about the Force, about the galaxy, all of it. I think… maybe what's in the temples might teach me things about the Force that not even you know.'

Luke pondered it over. He had to admit, Ben had a point. There _was_ only so much Luke could teach him about the Force. And Luke had also been secretly getting worried about how Ben would handle the galaxy after he became an official Jedi Knight, or more specifically, how the galaxy would handle Ben. Maybe if Han and Chewie acted as his guides, it would be alright.

'Well' Luke began. 'I guess it can't hurt to at least take a look at the other temples.'

Ben grinned.

'But', Luke warned. 'Han and Chewie will be going with you.'

Ben's face fell. 'What?' he said. 'Why?'

'Because I don't want you using this "pilgrimage" as an excuse to visit the _Sith_ temples", Luke replied, his face darkening. 'I know you're still curious about the dark side, Ben, and I cannot -no, I _will not_ \- let you make the same mistakes my father did. Han and Chewie will accompany you on your journey to make sure you only travel to the Jedi temples. That's the only way it's going to go, and that's the end of it.'

 _Dammit_ , Ben thought to himself. Oh well, this was just a temporary setback. He'd find a way to ditch Han and Chewie. It couldn't be _that_ hard.


	2. Takodana and Tython

Han and Chewie arrived the following week. At the sight of the _Millennium Falcon_ soaring across the sky, Ben couldn't help but grin. It was always exciting to fly around in an actual piece of galactic history.

'I honestly cannot believe you're doing this', Jacen said, appearing beside Ben as they gazed at the descending _Falcon_.

'Yeah, I was surprised too when my dad said-'

'No', Jacen interrupted. 'I _can't_ believe you're doing this. The only time you've _ever_ left Ossus by yourself is to visit your family on Mandalore. And now all of a sudden you want to go on a pilgrimage to what's left of the other Jedi temples? _Please._ '

'That _is_ what I want to do', Ben protested.

' _Suuuuure_ it is', Jacen smirked. 'Look', he continued, his face growing serious, 'I'm sure you're not going to tell me what you're really doing, but just know… you can, okay? You can trust me.'

Ben frowned. Serious was not something Jacen did. 'Are you… okay?'

'Yes', Jacen replied quickly. 'I've just been feeling kind of… well, strange.'

'Maybe you ate some bad nerf-nuggets?' Ben offered, in a joking manner. Jacen was well-known amongst the academy for his love of nerf-meat.

'Yeah, maybe', Jacen laughed back, as Han and Chewie arrived. After they greeted one another, they all walked towards the _Falcon_. Just before the ramp, Ben and Jacen said their goodbyes and hugged one another.

'Whatever it is you're really doing, good luck', Jacen whispered.

'May the Force be with you.'

'And you as well.'

**0000000000000000**

As the _Falcon_ left Ossus, Han turned to Ben in the cockpit.

'So, Mr. Pilgrim', Han said, with the same smirking expression as his son. 'What planet are me and Chewie chauffeuring you too first? Coruscant? Rakata Prime?'

'Takodana', Ben answered immediately.

 _You wanna go to Maz?_ Chewbacca asked, confusion on his furry face. Then what looked like understanding flared. _Oh, I get it._

'What?' Han asked.

_The kid thinks because he's eighteen now, he can finally get drunk for the first time. And you know how Luke is about alcohol._

'About as tight as one can get', Han agreed.

Ben decided not to tell them the truth. They would turn the _Falcon_ right around and take his back to Ossus if he did.

'Well', Han said to Ben, 'I must say it's about time you finally showed a little rebellion. If anything, it proves you're a Skywalker. Okay Chewie, punch it. Let's get my nephew drunker than the time you were on Hosnian.'

 _I wasn't drunk_ , Chewie growled.

'You were trying to count your fingers with your toes. Trust me, _you were drunk_ ', Han replied, as the _Falcon_ jumped to lightspeed.

**0000000000000000**

Ben changed from his Jedi robes to civilian clothes as Takodana came into view. He also decided to leave his lightsabers on the _Falcon_. Luke had warned Ben that there were many people in the galaxy who would welcome the chance to kill a Jedi, for the fame that would come with it. It would be a dead giveaway if Ben walked around with the weapons on display. As Ben did up his boots, Han came into view.

'You're gonna need this', Han said, holding up a DL-44 blaster, identical to his own.

Ben hesitated. It was not in a Jedi's nature to wield blasters. He had only held one once before, the last time he had set foot on Takodana. Han had spent an afternoon showing Ben and Jacen how to use the weapon. When Ben had fired it, the kick had knocked him back on his ass. Repeatedly. Which was kind of humiliating.

'You do remember what I taught you?', Han prompted.

'Yeah', Ben said. He took the blaster, and the holster Han offered.

'Try not to fall over this time when you fire it', the former smuggler grinned, as Chewie landed the _Falcon_ on Takodana's surface. The three walked over to Maz's castle, and knocked on the door. Almost immediately it was thrown open, and the next thing Ben knew, Maz was grabbing his face and pulling it down to hers, her eyes widening behind her goggles.

'Young Skywalker!', the wrinkled alien grinned at him, ruffling Ben's light brown hair. 'You got _handsome_ , didn't you? I'll bet you came back because you're tired of all the girls chasing you back home.'

Ben couldn't help but laugh. Maz's sense of humour was refreshing compared to Luke's stoic nature.

'Actually, Maz', Han said, 'Ben's here because he wanted a break from Jedi training. Let's show him a good time, shall we?'

'My pleasure', Maz smiled, taking Ben by the hand and pulling him into her bar.

 _Well_ , Ben thought, _it can't hurt to have just ONE drink_ ….

**000000000000**

'Never again', Ben groaned to himself the following morning, heaving the contents of his stomach into one of Maz's toilets. Oh God, his head felt like a beaten drum.

'That's what they always say', he heard Maz behind him. The old pirate reached out a hand, gently touching Ben's forehead. Almost at once, the pain disappeared, and Ben was able to think clearly again.

'How- how did you-'

'One of the many gifts the Force provided me with', Maz answered.

It took a few seconds for Maz's revelation to sink in to Ben's alcohol-fuelled brain.

'What- wha- _you-_ '

'Yes', Maz said quietly. 'Though I never really received proper training. Still, I don't need to use the Force to know you didn't come here to drink your sorrows away. So, why _are_ you here?'

Ben hesitated. 'Where are Han and Chewie?'

'Upstairs, drunk enough that they won't wake up for at least a while.'

'Good. Because we need to talk.'

'About…'

'Those who came before the Jedi and Sith.'

Maz took her goggles off. 'You wish to know of the Je'daii?'

'Yes.'

Maz sighed. 'Come. Let's find a place where we can talk in private.'

Upstairs, there were only a few customers scattered around Maz's bar. Han and Chewie were at one of the tables, both snoring loudly. Ben and Maz found an empty table, out of earshot of anybody else.

'So', Maz began, 'what do you want to know about the Je'daii?'.

'Where their Temple was. I hope to learn more about them there.'

'Why? This cannot be for a history project.'

'It isn't', Ben answered. He paused before continuing. 'I wish to… study the dark side.'

Maz's face twisted. 'You want to become a Sith? You really think I wouldn't kill you before letting you go down that path-'

'No, no!' Ben interrupted Maz hurriedly. 'I merely wish to study the dark side so I can _understand_ it. That way I would be better able to resist it, if I ever felt tempted to go down that path.'

Maz was silent. Then she put her goggles back on, turned the lenses so her eyes appeared ginormous, and looked very closely into Ben's eyes.

'What are you doing?' the young Skywalker asked. Maz was being very unnerving.

'In the course of my life, I have learned to see the same eyes in different people', the old alien explained. 'In yours… I see only curiosity. No greed, no hunger for power, just… curiosity.'

Maz's face changed from attentive to conflicted, like she was wrestling with a decision. 'Very well', she said. 'I will tell you where the Je'daii Temple is. But I think I should tell you… it is a very dangerous thing you want to do. More dangerous than you realise.'

'I understand.'

'No, you don't.' Maz sighed and sat back in her chair, rubbing her forehead. 'The Je'daii Temple is on Tython.'

'Tython?' Ben asked. 'I've never heard of that planet.'

'Not many people have, it was abandoned thousands of years ago. It's in the Deep Core. I will place the hyperspace coordinates in your ship. Oh, that reminds me, you need a ship. Han and Chewbacca… they can't go with you.'

'What, why?' Ben asked. He'd been thinking of telling his travelling companions that the Je'daii Temple was actually a Jedi Temple Maz had told him about. Those two may have been intergalactic heroes, but they knew fuck all about the Force.

'Because,' Maz went on, 'Tython is a unique planet, in that only Force-sensitives can survive the atmosphere. If anyone else were to so much as set foot on Tython… they wouldn't live to tell about it.'

Ben pondered this. Going out into the big wide galaxy all by himself was… well, terrifying to say the least. But somehow, somewhere inside him, something was telling Ben this would be the only real chance he'd get to find what he wanted. Was the Force telling him this was the right thing to do? Or was it his own ambition talking? Whatever it was, Ben had made his mind up.

'Okay', he said. 'But I need to leave a note for Han and Chewie.'

**000000000000**

Chewbacca woke up, his head on fire. _Uuuuggh,_ he moaned. _What happened?_

'Chewie?' the Wookie heard beside him. He saw Maz holding a cup of some strange-smelling liquid. 'Drink this, it'll help with-'

Chewbacca seized the drink and gulped it down. It tasted like boiled bark, but he felt the hangover lessen. Not completely, though. As Chewbacca's vision cleared, he saw Han slumped beside him. No sign of Ben, though. Wincing, Chewbacca looked around for the young Skywalker.

 _Where's Ben?_ Chewie asked Maz.

'He's gone.'

_Gone?_

'He left this for you', Maz answered, holding out a note. Chewie gingerly took the scrap of paper.

What he read was not remotely pleasing.

 _Hey guys, I'm sorry but the next part of my journey I must undertake alone. I have gone to Tython. It is a planet where only force-sensitive people can survive, so if you value your lives, don't try to follow me. I have taken my things from the_ Falcon _and Maz has given me a ship to use. Don't worry, I'll be fine. When my journey is complete, I will travel back to Ossus. Tell my father I am sorry for deceiving him, but I will explain everything once I have found what I am looking for._

_May the Force be with you._

_Love Ben._

Chewie looked over at the sleeping Han, snoring away.

 _Luke is SO gonna kill us for this,_ the Wookie thought.

**0000000000**

As the U-Wing Maz called _The Blackjack_ dropped out of hyperspace, Ben got his first look at the blue-and-green planet of Tython. And immediately felt the rush of the Force. So Maz _hadn't_ been lying. Ben hadn't even landed on the planet yet, and he could sense the Force positively radiating off the surface. Ben knew the Force was in all forms of life, but Tython was… different. There were two moons circling the planet as well. One was a pale white, the other a rust-red. Both of these planets were strong with the Force as well. Very odd. Very odd indeed. Fortunately for Ben, Maz had supplied him with a map of Tython, on which the location of the Je'daii Temple was highlighted, so finding it wouldn't be a problem for him.

Ben drew closer to the surface, and, using the map, quickly found the Temple. He'd been expecting a bunch of run-down and decrepit old ruins, but instead, to his surprise, it appeared as strong and sturdy as it must have been when the Je'daii had lived here. It was getting dark, and also starting to rain, quite heavily, so as Ben landed _The Blackjack_ outside the Temple, he debated whether or not he should go in, or sleep on the ship and wait till the morning to check it out. But Ben had never been the most patient Jedi, despite Luke's best efforts to change that, so he pulled on a poncho, cap and rain goggles, along with clothes Maz had said he could use. It would be impractical at best to wear his Jedi robes out in the rain, but Ben decided to take his lightsabers and the blaster Han had given him. After all, Maz had been unable to tell him if there were dangerous life forms on Tython, and Ben wasn't willing to take chances. He left _Blackjack_ and ran through the rain, which was beginning to pour, up the steps of the Temple. And realised there was no lock on the door. Or handle. Or keypad. Or even a keyhole. Ben pulled out and ignited one of his lightsabers, the green blade flickering through the rain. No, nothing but a wall.

Ben ran around the Temple, looking for a backdoor. Nothing. As he returned to the front, he wondered what was going on. Had someone sealed the Temple off, or-

Then it came to Ben, and he laughed as he realised. _Of course._ If only force-sensitive people could live on Tython, it made sense that only a force-sensitive person could get inside the Temple. With his free hand, Ben reached out to the seemingly doorless wall, closed his eyes, and concentrated. Sure enough, he felt the wall slide up, revealing the inside. Ben walked in, using his lightsaber to look around in the dark. _How interesting_ , Ben thought, looking around. The first room was big, and empty, with twin staircases leading up to another floor.

 _Okay_ , Ben thought. _If there's any information on Je'daii here, it'll probably be in their library-_

A sudden movement off to his right startled Ben, and he whipped his lightsaber around, pointing in the direction it had come from.

'Who's there?' Ben shouted. Another noise came to his left, a clattering sound coming from one of the staircases. Ben quickly shed the poncho, ignited his other lightsaber, and ran over to the steps. Nothing there.

 _Huh_ , Ben thought, as another clattering sound came from the other staircase. Ben used the Force to jump across, bringing his lightsabers down, the twin green blades humming- and slashing at empty air. Then Ben saw the pebble on the staircase.

 _Pebbles,_ Ben thought in disbelief. _It was tossing fucking pebbles about. The oldest trick in the book, and I fell for it-_

Those were the last thoughts Ben had before the staff smashed into his head.

**000000000000**

Ahsoka looked down at the unconscious figure. Who the _hell_ was this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this. Comments and reviews are much appreciated!


	3. Revelations

  As he regained consciousness, Ben slowly became more and more aware of his surroundings. Namely, that he was in what looked like a dungeon. And his arms and legs were chained to a wall. Ben concentrated, trying to use the Force to pry the chains off.

  ‘Don’t bother.’

  Ben’s head snapped up. Seated across from him on a chair was an elderly female Togruta, who was leaning on a stick and looking at him with distrust in her eyes.

  ‘Don’t bother’, she said again. ‘You can’t use your powers when you’re in those, and only a force-sensitive can set you free from them.’

  ‘You’re force-sensitive?’ Ben asked.

  The Togruta rolled her eyes. ‘Well, in case you didn’t know, only force-sensitive life-forms can survive this planet. Everything else just… dies.’

  _Right_ , Ben thought, remembering what Maz had said.

  ‘So’, the Togruta interrupted Ben’s thoughts. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Ben Skywalker’, Ben replied. The chains he was attached to may have been blocking his powers, but he didn’t need them to identify the look of shock that suddenly spread across the Togruta’s face. When she regained her composure, she opened her mouth again.

  ‘And what are you doing here, Ben Skywalker?’

  ‘Did my name mean something to you?’ Ben asked. ‘I mean, I get that it’s a pretty famous name, but you seem particularly shocked to hear it.’ 

  ‘What are you _doing_ here?’ the Togruta simply repeated, poker-faced.

  Ben sighed. Strange as it was, he got the feeling he could trust her.

  ‘Well,’ Ben began, ‘I’ve been training to be a Jedi for the last thirteen years. I’ve also gotten pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. But ever since I began training, I’ve been feeling…’

  ‘Feeling...?’ the Togruta prompted.

  ‘Imbalanced’, Ben replied. ‘Like… like there is only so much I can learn about the Force by being a Jedi.’

  ‘Well, you’re not wrong there’, the Togruta replied. ‘No matter how powerful they may grow to be, Jedi- and Sith too, for that matter- have only ever represented one side of the Force.’

  She paused. Then she lifted a hand, and Ben felt the chains fall off. ‘Very well’, the Togruta replied. ‘You need balance. I will help you find it.’

  ‘Er… thank you’, Ben replied, standing up. He was surprised at her sudden decision. ‘But why? And who are you, anyway? And why did you look so surprised when I told you my name? 

  ‘Because I believe the Force sent you to me, so I could guide you. My name is Ahsoka Tano. And when I was a little younger than you are now, I was the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. Before… before he was Darth Vader,’ Ahsoka rattled off the answers to Ben’s questions.

  Ben’s mouth dropped open like a trapdoor.

 

**00000000000000**

  As the two walked outside, Ben’s head was whirring. How could it not be? This person, this _Ahsoka_ , was a Jedi from a time _before_ the Empire, and not only that, she had learned from his grandfather _before_ he became Darth Vader.

  ‘I’m sure you have many questions’, Ahsoka said, drawing to a stop. ‘And they will be answered in time, I promise. But right now, we have to get to Bogan.’

  ‘Who’s Bogan?’

  ‘Not _who_. _What._ That moon over there.’ Ahsoka pointed to the rust-red moon orbiting Tython. ‘It’s where you will gain balance. It’s where you will… understand.’

  ‘Understand?’

  ‘You will see,’ Ahsoka said as they boarded _The Blackjack_. On their way to Bogan, Ahsoka explained the history of the Je’daii.

  ‘Although the details behind how they ended up on Tython are… foggy at best, it is generally agreed that the Je’daii Order was founded roughly thirty-six thousand years ago. Unlike the Jedi and Sith, who both believe the other side of the Force is dangerous to learn, the Je’daii believed it was more dangerous _not_ to learn both sides, as one would never be truly balanced. In fact, Je’daii who were believed to be leaning too close to either the dark side or the light would be sent to either Ashla,’ Ahsoka pointed to the other, snowy-white moon, ‘or Bogan, respectively, where we’re going now, until they were considered to be balanced once more in the Force’.

  ‘So what happened?’ Ben asked. ‘Why did the Je’daii split into the Jedi and Sith? Did a Je’daii lean too close to the dark side and destroy it all?’

  ‘Actually it happened over time, not all at once. Slowly but surely, more and more members of the Je’daii Order began to favour either the dark side or the light, until about twenty-five thousand years ago, when the two sides finally clashed. In the aftermath, both sides left Tython and were renamed as the Jedi and Sith. And ever since then… well, you’ll see. Trust me, you’ll see.’

  Ben landed _Blackjack_ on Bogan, and him and Ahsoka walked out onto the red surface. Ben could sense the Force all around him. It was almost like being wrapped up in a blanket.

  ‘Interesting, isn’t it?’ Ahsoka said. ‘I remember what it was like the first time I came here.’

  ‘Wait’, Ben said. He’d just realised something. ‘How _did_ you get here? To Tython, I mean?’

  ‘A good question, which I will answer at another time.’

  Before Ben could protest Ahsoka’s vagueness, he felt something. Somebody else was here… and yet at the same time, not here. God, this was all just so _confusing_.

  ‘Master Ketu’, Ahsoka said, bowing her head to someone behind Ben. Ben turned around- and yelped. There was a coffee-skinned man with black hair tied in a ponytail standing behind them, dressed in what looked like a mixture of Jedi robes and armour. But the most astonishing thing about him was that Ben could see _through_ him. He was a ghost. Ben remembered Luke telling him stories of old Jedi masters appearing to him as spirits, but this was the first time Ben had actually _seen_ a Force ghost. The expression that Master Ketu wore upon his face was thunderous.

  ‘Why have you disturbed my rest?’ He snapped.

  ‘You know why’, Ahsoka replied curtly.

  Ketu looked Ben up and down. ‘Too much of the light within him’, he immediately stated. ‘Don’t worry, I can fix that. And maybe, finally, the galaxy will begin to understand.’

  ‘Understand wha-’ Ben said just before the Je’daii ghost placed his hand on Ben’s forehead. Immediately, Ben’s vision went dark.

 

**00000000000**

  Voices. Feelings. Movements. Everything seemed scattered as Ben opened his eyes. But he was no longer standing on Bogan’s surface. He was standing on… nothing. Just complete and utter blackness. Ben could see nothing but himself. But he could hear voices. Questioning voices.

  _What is the purpose of the Jedi?_

‘What?’ Ben asked.

  _What is the purpose of the Jedi?_

‘Achieving peace. Creating order. Maintaining knowledge. And serenity.’ Ben replied. Luke had hammered that into him often enough over the years. 

  _Hmmph. What is the purpose of the Sith?_

  ‘To… create chaos and enslave others?’ Ben replied weakly. Luke had _really_ not taught him much about the Sith other than that they were evil.

  _NO!_ the voices thundered. Ben covered his ears. _You have much to learn, young one. Let’s start with the first, most obvious truth of the Force: there are TWO sides to it, no matter how much your father may have tried to convince you otherwise. The light AND the dark. And, no matter how hard the Jedi and Sith may have tried to pretend otherwise, the two are interchangeable._

‘What do you mean?’

  _In every sentient life form throughout the galaxy, both good AND evil resides. Isn’t that true?_

‘Yes.’

  _It is the same with the Force. In the same way that nobody can be completely good or completely bad, the Force has inherently light and dark sides. Separating the two is dangerous, for neither side is without fault. But together, they complement each other._

‘What do you mean, neither side is without fault?’

  _Across the millennia, the galaxy has switched back and forth between the control of the Sith and Jedi. Whenever the Sith rule, life is oppressed and destroyed, and the brave rise up, destroy the Sith, and reinstate the Jedi. But whenever the Jedi have control, it always evolves into a rash of carelessness and impassiveness. And through this, the Sith rise, and the cycle begins again. The cycle that is turning even now._

  ‘What must be done to stop this cycle?’ Ben asked.

  _Can you not feel it? The imbalance within the Force?_

‘Yes’, Ben answered. ‘I have been a part of the Jedi Order for thirteen years. And in all that time, I have always felt that there was something off about it. At first I thought it was my Mandalorian blood, clashing with my father’s.’

  _And now?_

  ‘Now’, Ben said, ‘I think it is because I was only ever learning one side of the Force.’

  _Good,_ the voice said, sounding satisfied. _And what does it mean, to only study one side of the Force? What has it always meant?_

  ‘It means that… ever since the Je’daii split into the Jedi and Sith, all those millennia ago, the Force _itself_ has been imbalanced.’

  _So what must happen to rectify that?_

  ‘The Je’daii have to come back.’

  _Because?_

  ‘Because only those who are balanced in the Force can _bring_ balance back to the Force,’ Ben realised. ‘I always thought that was what my grandfather did when he killed Darth Sidious and returned to the light, but… I see now that is not true. Anakin only travelled from one side of the Force to the other. The prophecy of the Chosen One… is still unfulfilled.’

  _Correct. Now go fulfill it, Chosen One. Become Je’daii, and bring balance to the Force once and for all._

**0000000000000**

  Ben opened his eyes. Ahsoka and Ketu were standing over him.

  ‘Well, Ben,’ Ahsoka said. ‘Do you understand?’

  Ben stood up, his face set. ‘I understand.’


	4. Lessons

Ben's first lesson in the dark side started the next day on Bogan. After the early morning meditation, Master Ketu knelt across from Ben.

'What do you feel?' the long-dead Je'daii asked.

'I'm not sure', Ben admitted.

'How did your father teach you to feel the light?'

'By focusing on its core component.'

'Which is?'

'Peace.'

'Correct. Now, what is the core component of the dark?'

'Uh… war?' Ben asked. He was _really_ resenting his father now for not telling him more about the dark side. Especially so as he saw Ketu's lip curl.

'Funny', Ketu said. 'I wasn't aware that war was an emotion.'

'I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound-'

'Stupid?' Ketu interrupted. 'Well, it's a bit late for that. Let me tell you what the dark side _truly_ involves.'

The Je'daii held up his right hand. 'The light side of the Force is accessed through the more peaceful emotions such as calmness. The dark side, however,' Ketu continued, holding up his left hand, is accessed through… _raw_ emotions, such as anger and passion. That is why the old Jedi taught their subordinates not to feel those emotions… and why it was your grandfather's love for his wife that caused him to turn on them.'

Ben flinched.

'Don't worry', Ketu soothed. 'I do not judge people for the actions of their family. That can make enemies out of potential allies.'

'So', Ben said, hurriedly trying to shift the subject, 'in order to use the dark side, I must… focus on what makes me angry?'

'That _is_ an option, yes, but not the only one. However, that is the one we shall start with.' Ketu stood up, and instructed Ben to do the same. Then to Ben's surprise, the ghost waved his hand, and a giant shard of rock rose out of Bogan's surface.

Ben stared at Ketu. 'You can still use the Force? Even in death?'

'That's not important right now', Ketu replied. 'Draw your lightsaber, and cut the rock in half.'

Ben drew one of his lightsabers, and made a horizontal slash at the rock. Expecting the blade to slice clean through, as it had done to every single object Ben had previously trained his lightsaber on, he was caught off guard, and off balance, when the lightsaber simply bounced off the rock.

Ben stumbled back. 'Wha…' he gaped. There wasn't so much as a dent on the rock.

Grinning, Ketu explained. 'It's a test we would use for Je'daii who had fallen too close to the light. You can slice through the rock… but only if you've tapped into the dark side.'

'Okay. So, the same principle as the light, but with raw emotion instead of peace?'

Ketu nodded.

Ben closed his eyes, and concentrated. Back on Ossus, Luke had always told his students to focus on what gave them peace to control their abilities. Now Ben had to use what had made him angry in the past. And he knew _exactly_ what to concentrate on. All the other Jedi students, how they'd ignored him, or worse, tried to humiliate him. They hadn't dared attract Luke's wrath, but there had been many instances where they'd stuck notes on his back saying 'kick me' and 'teacher's pet', and even thrown things at him when Luke wasn't looking. Even worse, when Ben had gone to his father, Luke had dismissed it as children playing games. Ben knew he was just busy rebuilding the Jedi Order, so he'd bottled his anger down, and kept it down. Now, Ben let his anger out and felt something in the Force… shift. And when he swung the lightsaber at the rock this time, it was with the fury of a bullied child who'd never received the justice he deserved. This time, the lightsaber went through the rock like it wasn't even there. As the sliced half fell to the ground, Ben looked at Ketu, who was smiling approvingly.

' _Very_ well done', he said. 'Most apprentices don't succeed the second time. The Force must be _exceptionally_ strong in your family.'

'It is', Ben answered as he deactivated his lightsaber. 'So now it's been established I can use the dark side… how do we know I won't be seduced by it like my grandfather was?'

'Because your grandfather never had Lesson Two.'

'Lesson Two? Is that what I'm about to learn now?'

'No', Ketu answered as he raised his hand. The severed half of the rock flew back onto its other half, fixing itself like Ben had never sliced through it. 'It's what you'll learn after you slice through this rock twenty more times. Or until dawn comes round again.'

**00000000000**

Fortunately, Ben was able to slice through the rock twenty more times before dawn broke. It had actually gotten a lot harder towards the end. Consistently using raw emotion tended to tax one's energy, even with the help of the Force. Ketu assured Ben that, like all skills, it would get easier with practice.

The next day, Ben found himself back on Tython for Lesson Two. Outside the Temple, Ketu appeared, and instructed Ben to sit down. And then he explained.

'In the time of the Je'daii, younglings would learn to use the light side and the dark simultaneously, so by the time they were fully grown, they would be completely at ease with both, able to use both sides of the Force without succumbing to either side.'

'You, however', Ketu explained, 'were raised solely in the light side. Therefore, you have become much more vulnerable to the pull of the dark side than you were before you began your Jedi training.'

'The old Jedi were able to last thousands of years without succumbing to the dark side', Ben pointed out. Luke had often used this as a factor against Ben's arguments to study the dark side. Which is why Ben was surprised when Ketu simply laughed.

'The Jedi Order fell over two dozen times before anybody even knew the name Skywalker existed. Two dozen times in separate areas of history, people believed the Jedi to be extinct. And every time the Jedi Order fell, it was because one of their own fell into darkness and burnt everything down. Every. Single. Time.'

'Then why would the Jedi not look for a solution?'

'Hubris. Pride. Their own belief that it was the will of the Force and not their arrogance which caused the Order to crumble, over and over again. But anyway, I'm getting off-track. You _can_ become Je'daii, but there is something you need to do to be able to study the dark side safely.'

'Which is?'

'Something we would use for… _difficult_ Padawans.' Ketu said. 'It goes as follows':

' _Flowing through all, there is balance_

_There is no peace without passion to create_

_There is no passion without peace to guide_

_Knowledge stagnates without the strength to act_

_Power blinds without the serenity to see_

_There is freedom in life_

_There is purpose in death_

_The Force is all things and I am the Force.'_

'A mantra?' Ben asked. 'What does it mean?'

'Many things', Ketu explained.

' _Flowing through all, there is balance_. A reminder that the different sides of the Force cannot be separated without consequences. If the dark side gained dominance, life would be destroyed. But if the light side ruled, the galaxy would fall to lethargy and idleness.

_There is no peace without passion to create, and no passion with peace to guide._ Passion is an essential part of life, but to be used in a constructive manner, inner peace with oneself is required. For passion without peace is madness, and peace without passion is apathy.

_Knowledge stagnates without the strength to act_ _, and_ _power blinds without the serenity to see_. Promoting and maintaining peace is a noble calling, but if one knows what is necessary to ensure it, and is unwilling to do it, their goals are doomed from the start. In the same regard, having power and not having a purpose behind it beyond increasing said power is meaningless.

_There is freedom in life, and there is purpose in death_. Sometimes laws and other forms of rule must be broken for a greater good in the name of bringing order to chaos, but that does not mean they should be abolished altogether. The coexistence of order and chaos is what keeps the galaxy evolving. And death may be considered an unfortunate path of life, but it can never be considered unnatural.

Finally, _The Force is all things and I am the Force_. Good or evil, the Force is the lifeblood of the galaxy. To truly be Je'daii, one cannot choose only one side. To us, there is no light side, and there is no dark- there is simply the Force. If you want to truly bring balance back to the Force, you have to embrace it all. You have to _be_ the balance.'

Ketu looked at Ben, who was struggling to take it all in. 'Do not worry', Ketu said, 'it will be easier with practice.'

Ben looked at Ketu. 'I have a question', the young Skywalker said.

'Yes?'

'Have any Jedi or Sith ever tried to become Je'daii before me?'

'Yes. Both their Orders called them "Grey Jedi".'

'Are there any Grey Jedi left in the galaxy?'

'Only Ahsoka. And you, soon enough.'

'Good', Ben said. Then a sudden thought struck him. 'I have to call my father. I've been gone for days already. He must be worried sick by now.'

'Well, if he's tried calling you, it wouldn't have worked', Ketu answered.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, in case you didn't notice when you first arrived, Tython and its moons are strong in the Force. So strong, in fact, that there are barriers all around them, which prevent all forms of off-world communication'.

'Is there any way you can take the barrier down, so I can call my father?' Ben asked.

Ketu closed his eyes, his face screwing up in concentration. 'Try it now, I can't hold this forever.'

Ben quickly pulled out his holovid, and saw _34 missed calls from Dad_ displayed on it. _Oh dear_ , Ben thought.

**0000000000000**

Luke was worried. No, not worried. He was _terrified_. The second Han and Chewbacca had arrived on Ossus without Ben, Luke had feared the worst, then felt relieved that his son was alright, then feared the worst all over again when he realised that Ben was on a planet Luke had never heard of all by himself. Luke had tried calling Ben on his holovid, to no avail. What on earth was he _doing_? Despite his incessant curiosity, Ben had never displayed a sense of adventurousness like Luke knew he had done when he was Ben's age, dreaming of seeing the galaxy while stuck as a farm boy on Tatooine. Luke wondered what he would say to Mira if Ben got himself killed. They hadn't known each other very well during their brief affair, but Luke knew the temper on that woman was enough to scare Chewbacca senseless. Then Luke's holovid beeped, displaying Ben's name, and Luke breathed a sigh of relief. He answered the call, and a hologram of Ben appeared.

'Hey', Luke's son said. He looked sheepish. 'Look, I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls before, but something happened-'

'I don't care', Luke said, unable to stop a relieved grin breaking out on his face. 'Are you alright? Are you hurt?'

'I'm fine. It's just… I won't be coming back for a while.'

'What?' Luke asked, feeling the grin on his face sliding off as quickly as it appeared. 'Why? What's so great about Tython?'

'I've found... a teacher.'

'A teacher?'

'Yes. She's offered to show me other aspects of the Force, other features which you don't know about. The thing is, she kind of… can't leave the planet, so if I want to learn, I have to stay.'

'Why can't she leave the planet?'

'It's… complicated', Ben answered.

'I want to speak to this "teacher",' Luke said. Ben promptly stood aside in the hologram, and a Togruta woman took his place.

'Hello, Master Skywalker,' she smiled warmly at Luke, as though he was an old friend instead of someone she'd just met. 'Don't worry, your son is in good hands here'.

'I don't know that for sure', Luke growled. 'Why should I trust you, anyway? And what are you teaching my son?'

'You should trust me because I knew your father, before… before…' the Togruta looked down, as if in shame.

'You knew my father?' Luke asked in surprise. 'Are you a Jedi, then?'

'Yes, my name is Ahsoka Tano. I managed to evade Order 66 and the Purge, and I ended up on Tython. I've been here ever since', Ahsoka answered. 'As to what I'm teaching your son, well… what I'm teaching him are the old ways. The way the Jedi Order worked before we were all but wiped out. I can assure you, I will make sure Anakin's grandson does not stray from the correct path. He seems to have almost a pathological interest in the dark side.'

'Yes, that sounds like him', Luke said. Maybe this could work. It surely couldn't hurt for Ben to learn more about being a Jedi that Luke himself couldn't teach, and maybe he would even be able to teach Luke some new things. Luke pondered it over.

'Alright', Luke decided. 'But Ben comes home at every possible opportunity.'

'Not a problem', Ahsoka replied, as Ben appeared back on screen. The two Skywalkers talked for a little while longer, then said their goodbyes.

**0000000000000**

Ben looked around as he finished the call, at Ketu as the Je'daii opened his eyes. Ben instantly sensed something pass over them, and his holovid went dead again.

'You lied to your father', Ketu stated.

'We both did', Ahsoka said, placing a hand on Ben's shoulder in comfort.

'Do you know why?' Ketu asked.

'I don't wanna break his heart… and I sensed he would never understand the importance of what we are doing here, no matter how hard I tried to convince him,' Ben realised.

'Good', Ketu said. 'That's enough lessons for today. Meet me here tomorrow for your next lesson.'

'What will it be about?'

'Concealing your true nature from other Force-sensitives. We can't have your father finding out the truth.'


	5. End of the beginning

Time passed by in a blur for Ben after that. Becoming a Grey Jedi was much harder than he thought it would be. Ben recalled a memory from when he was fifteen, and had managed to meditate for an entire day. He had not been hungry when it ended, yet when he took the first bite of his dinner that night, Ben had suddenly realised how starving he was. It was the same with studying the dark side. Once he had that first taste of it, it was like Ben just couldn't get enough. It was like a powerful drug, and he could feel how easy it was to simply give in and devote himself solely to the dark side. But fortunately, Ketu and Ahsoka were there to bring him back, and when they were not, he had the mantra Ketu had given him. True to his promise, Ben visited Ossus every chance he got, and once Luke even visited Tython. Ketu kept himself concealed during this visit as Ahsoka showed Luke around the planet, telling him stories about his father to keep Luke distracted from feeling any trace of the dark side on Tython.

From Ketu, Ben learned many things about the Force. Ketu taught him Force Grip, the act of telekinetically seizing an enemy by their throat. He taught Ben Force Insanity, the opposite side of the coin to the Jedi mind trick, which involved invading someone's psyche with sinister energies, playing on their sense of fear. Ben also learned Deadly Sight, where a Force-sensitive used pure rage and fury in an intense stare which Ketu claimed could blister, and even vaporize those who Ben chose to use it on. Ketu also taught Ben Morichro, where a force-sensitive could slow the body functions of other life forms into catatonia. Finally, Ketu taught Ben Force Lightning, where from using a mix of determination and anger, one could spray bolts of electricity from their hands.

When Ben asked Ketu how he would practice these techniques, Ketu simply smiled and pointed at the various animals which populated Tython. Like all forms of life on the planet, these animals were force-sensitive themselves. The giant Jakobeasts, while fairly docile, used their horns to create a telekinetic push strong enough to flatten trees. The heavily-armoured Akk dogs had a telepathic bond with each other. The Taozin, which vaguely resembled centipedes, were able to cloak themselves from force-sensitives. According to Ketu, many of those who hunted force-sensitives used amulets made from Taozin skin for the same effect. This news initially worried Ben, but Ketu assured him that the amulets only worked with force-sensitives who used just one side of the Force. Ben passed this knowledge on to Luke, who was glad to hear it. However, the only animals that Ketu wanted Ben to practice his newfound skills on were Tython's native predators: the Vornskr, a grey-skinned quadruped twice as tall as Ben who tracked their prey by focusing on the presence of the Force within them. Therefore, according to Ketu, somebody who was force-sensitive would prove irresistible to a Vornskr. Ben's first few months on Tython largely involved either him hunting Vornskrs, or the other way around.

It was usually the other way around.

The first time he met a Vornskr, Ben had been caught completely off-guard. The wolf-panther hybrid had a speed and ferocity which defied its size, and had Ahsoka not been there, Ben would undoubtedly have ended up in the Vornskr's stomach. As it were, by the time Ahsoka plunged her white-coloured lightsabers through the Vornskr's brain, the beast had raked deep gashes across Ben's back and chest. Ahsoka and Ketu healed the wounds, but some scars still remained. The encounter left Ben badly shaken, but this was quickly replaced by a desire to actively hunt Vornskrs himself, and for the first time, he actively embraced the dark side, blasting Vornskrs with Force Lightning, choking them with Force Grip, or simply blistering their skin with Deadly Sight. Ben never hurt Vornskr pups, though. Ketu instructed him to give first chances, but never second ones. The work they were doing was simply too important.

Where Ketu was Ben's teacher in the Force, Ahsoka was his combat instructor. Ben was delighted to learn that Ahsoka knew _Jar'Kai_ like he did. Their first sparring session together, Ben tried to go easily on the elderly Togruta. Ahsoka almost beat him into a coma as punishment, and from then on, the two sparred almost every day. Ahsoka noticed that although Ben's lightsabers were the same length, he was right-handed. She subsequently told him that the lightsaber he carried in his left hand needed to be shorter, about half the length of his other blade, as it would allow for a greater range of motion. Ben reconstructed the lightsaber into a _shoto_ , and almost immediately his style improved. Although the chance of Ben facing a lightsaber-wielding enemy were close to zero, Ahsoka insisted that they fence with their lightsabers as much as Ben practiced deflecting bolts from the blasters he would buy off-world.

**0000000000**

As the next four years went by, Ben took holidays from his training, occasionally to Mandalore to visit his mother, and Ossus to visit his father and cousin, but other places throughout the galaxy as well. And wherever he went, from Rodia to Naboo, even to Tatooine where his father and grandfather had grown up, Ben kept hearing the words "First Order". Apparently, there was a growing political and military faction that followed the principles of the Galactic Empire. Most of the people Ben heard talking about it dismissed it as a bunch of Empire-loving hooligans causing trouble, which seemed to be the view shared by the Galactic Senate. Ben once accompanied Leia to a Senate meeting where she publicly spoke out about the First Order, claiming that they were breaking the Military Disarmament Act and many other New Republic laws. Ben was outraged when the Senate responded by calling Leia "a paranoid warmonger", and when they left the meeting, Ben saw his aunt's eyes gleaming with tears.

'How _dare_ they?', Ben snarled. 'After everything you did for them-'

'No, it's not that', Leia said, scrubbing her eyes. 'They're just scared. Scared that another war is coming.'

'Well, if it does come', Ben said, 'I'll fight with you, even if no one else will.'

Leia smiled. 'I don't know if that's your Skywalker or your Mandalorian blood talking.'

'Maybe it's both.'

'Maybe', Leia sighed. 'But if you take anything away from this, Ben, it should be that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.'

Ben would carry those words with him the rest of his life.

**00000000000**

In all the time of discovering a way to study the dark side while keeping his father and pretty much everyone he knew from finding out about it, Ben had completely forgotten, and, he would be sorry to realise, neglected Jacen. If he had not, things would probably have turned out differently for a lot of people. For Jacen had managed to piece together what Ben was really doing on Tython. And his indignation at this, combined with the rage that Ben was unwilling to share his newfound knowledge, combined with the jealousy Jacen had bottled down over the years of Luke favouring Ben over everyone else, was the push Jacen needed to embrace the darkness.

**00000000000**

It was a day like any other. Ben trained with Ketu, he trained with Ahsoka, he hunted Vornskrs, then went to bed. Then, somewhere in his dreams, he saw his father's temple burning, saw the bodies of the students on the ground, and Luke kneeling besides R2-D2, his lifelong companion, tears falling from his eyes. Ben awoke with a start, and Ahsoka immediately burst into his room.

'Did you see it too?' she asked. Her voice was hoarse.

'Yes', Ben whispered. 'I have to get my father. I have to bring him back here.'

Ahsoka nodded. 'I'll come with you.'

**00000000000**

The whole way over to Ossus, Ben hoped that somehow, what he knew in his heart had happened, hadn't happened. Those hopes were dashed the moment _Blackjack_ dropped out of hyperspace and Ben saw the smoke rising from the Temple. Quickly landing the U-Wing on the surface, Ben caught sight of his father. He was dragging a body, one of the students, across the ground. Artoo slowly moved alongside him.

'Dad?' Ben called out. Artoo followed the sound of his voice, immediately beeping and whirring sounds of joy. _Oh, thank the maker, you're alright_ , Artoo said.

But Luke acted as though he hadn't heard, continuing to drag the body. Ben stopped in confusion, even as Artoo raced across the ground to Ben. After hugging the little droid tightly in relief, Ben ran over to his father, gripping his shoulder. 'Dad?', he said again.

Luke whirled around, eyes bright in anger and fear, which then quickly mellowed out when he saw his son. Dropping the body he was dragging, he pulled his son into a tight hug, tears pouring out of his eyes.

**00000000000**

'It was Jacen?', Ben croaked.

Luke nodded numbly.

Ben couldn't believe it. He didn't want to, but the look in his father's eyes was confirmation enough.

'He took a few apprentices with him, but everyone else… they're all gone. I checked', Luke said hoarsely.

'Why would anyone go with him?', Ben asked.

'Probably so he wouldn't kill them', Luke replied. He, Ben and Ahsoka spent the rest of the day burying the apprentices. Many of them had bullied Ben over the past, some had simply ignored him, and he hadn't liked any of them, but he was still sad to see them dead. When the last apprentice was buried, Ben turned to his father.

'What now?' he asked.

'I have to disappear. _We_ have to disappear', Luke said. 'It'll be better if we don't tell each other where we're going. That way they won't be able to pull it out of either of us if they catch us.'

' _They_? Who's _they_?'

Luke sighed. 'You remember the First Order, the one that the Senate's been dismissing as a bunch of wannabe Imperials?'

'Yeah.'

'The Senate was wrong. The First Order has everything the Empire did. Stormtroopers, TIE Fighters, Star Destroyers- they've got everything, and more. And they've got a leader. Some guy named Snoke… he's strong in the dark side, Ben. Maybe as strong as the Emperor himself.'

Ben stared incredulously as his father. 'A new Empire _and_ a Sith Lord ruling it? Why didn't you tell me this earlier? We could have stopped them-'

'Because up until last night, I didn't even know the First Order was that big of a threat, and I didn't know Snoke existed!', Luke snapped. His face suddenly dropped. 'I'm sorry', he said. He sounded like he was about to cry again. Ben really hoped he wasn't. It was a very cold shock of reality to see the man you admired above all others cry like a child.

'I'm sorry', Luke said again. 'But… we _do_ need to disappear. I was thinking about taking a page out of your book, maybe go to find the first Jedi Temple. Maz will probably know where it is.'

Luke paused, then his face stretched into a wry smile. 'Like she knew where you'd need to go to become a Grey Jedi.'

It took a moment for Luke's revelation to sink in. When it did, Ben felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. 'You… you knew?'.

'I'm your father. Of course I knew. I figured you would tell me when you were ready. I just didn't anticipate you being ready would take years.'

'I thought you wouldn't understand', Ben said. 'I thought… you would be angry with me.'

'Oh, make no mistake, when I figured out you deliberately disobeyed me, I was _terrified_ ', Luke said. 'But then I felt something else: pride. I was proud of you for doing what you thought was right, for being willing to step outside your comfort zone to become the man I always hoped you would become.'

Ben felt the prickle of tears behind his eyes, and felt a sudden rush of shame that he'd lied to his father's face for the past four years, for, as it turned out, absolutely nothing.

Ahsoka spoke up for the first time. 'We have to go back to Tython', she said. 'If this First Order is anything like the Empire, we need to go to a place where they can't touch us. Where _we_ will have the advantage. Any army the First Order sends down there will be dead the moment they enter the atmosphere, so if Jacen and this Snoke guy want us, they'll have to come alone.'

Ben nodded. It was a good plan. But Luke shook his head. 'I'm not going there', he said.

Ben was dumbstruck. 'Why not?' he asked.

'Remember when I went to visit you there?'

Ben nodded.

'I sensed the dark side energy there. It was… intoxicating. And I am no longer a young man. I don't think I would be able to resist the pull towards the darkness if I went back to Tython.'

Ben stared at his father. 'So this is goodbye, then?'

'For now. But hopefully, not forever.'

And as the sun set, father and son embraced, then went their separate ways.


	6. Confrontation

Snoke sat in his throne room, his red-armoured guards around him. And thought. He silently gloated at his success in turning Jacen Solo to the dark side. Snoke had to admit, it was a surprise that Solo had managed to bring six of Skywalker's other apprentices with him, but so much the better. After all, seven Knights of Ren were better than one. Now, there was only the matter of Skywalker to be dealt with. And his son. Snoke did not know much about Ben Skywalker, but there was no doubt the boy was a threat. A threat that had to be dealt with if the First Order was to ever succeed.

Snoke had initially considered turning Ben instead of Jacen to the darkness. After all, it would be a delicious kind of irony for Skywalker's son to fall to the dark side despite all his father's warnings against it. But just before Snoke had tried to reach out to Ben, he'd sensed the boy had gone to Tython. Snoke knew frustratingly little about the planet, but he did know it had been the training grounds for the Je'daii. And Jacen Solo, recently renamed Kylo Ren, had informed Snoke that his cousin had found a teacher there. If Ben Skywalker had found a way to become a Grey Jedi, to actively use the dark side without being seduced by it… it did not bode well for Snoke. If Ben Skywalker was anything like the rest of his family, the First Order would be in danger for as long as he breathed. Then there was the matter of his Mandalorian blood as well. Which reminded Snoke, peace talks with Mandalore needed to begin.

Snoke knew the danger that Mandalorians presented on the battlefield. After all, due to thousands of years worth of fighting, Mandalorians had all but perfected the art of war. Snoke also knew that Mandalorians preferred to follow great warriors instead of politicians. And Skywalker men tended to be great warriors. If the Skywalker boy managed to rally an army of Mandalorians against the First Order… the idea worried Snoke. And he hated being worried. So, in summary, the Skywalker boy had to be destroyed.

But first, Snoke needed to find out where Luke Skywalker had gone. While it was known Ben Skywalker was on Tython, Luke had completely vanished. Snoke had little doubt Luke would have told his son where he was going. And while news of Ben Skywalker's death may enrage his father enough to reveal himself, Snoke wasn't wiling to risk it. Which meant the boy needed to be brought to him, alive, so Snoke could force his way into the young Skywalker's mind and find his father's whereabouts. Snoke quickly called up General Armitage Hux, the newly-appointed leader of his High Command, and gave him the hyperspace coordinates for Tython.

'Take a Star Destroyer, with a fully-equipped army of Stormtroopers', Snoke rasped.

Hux frowned. 'Supreme Leader, is that truly necessary? Ben Skywalker is just one man-'

'No!', Snoke thundered. Hux involuntarily took a step back. 'He is _not_ just one man. He is a _Skywalker_. And Skywalkers don't go down so easily. Expect a fight. Expect casualties. But I want the boy brought to me _alive_. He will be necessary in discovering the whereabouts of his father.'

Hux nodded, and hurriedly left the room.

**0000000000**

Once Ben and Ahsoka returned to Tython, it was with a renewed sense of purpose that Ben trained. Before, he had simply been preparing to become a Grey Jedi. Now, he actively prepared for war. In the previous four years, Ahsoka and he had rarely sparred without their lightsabers on a non-lethal setting. Now, the lethal setting was all they used. Ketu, meanwhile, encouraged Ben to hunt Vornskrs every chance he got, always telling him to go for the throat, for the kill, and never, ever to hesitate. Ben knew Ketu was preparing him for when Jacen would come, and he knew why. Because while Ben was saddened by the idea of killing his cousin, the fact remained that Jacen, Snoke, and the First Order had become threats not just to the Republic, but to the galaxy itself. In order for them to survive, the enemy had to die. And it would only be a matter of time before the enemy came to Tython.

Sure enough, only a few months after Ben returned to Tython, Ahsoka woke him early one morning to say she had spotted a Star Destroyer in the sky. Ben could not help but gape at the monstrous ship cruising above Tython's orbit, which was easily the biggest he had ever seen. Then he saw a dozen other, smaller ships coming out of the Star Destroyer, and making for Tython's surface.

'I'd say those are troop transports', Ahsoka said. 'They're about to get a very nasty surprise.'

**0000000000**

HF-2428 nervously gripped the controls as she began flying the Atmospheric Assault Lander down to Tython's surface. She knew she wasn't nervous about flying. She had made landings before many times, in simulations and on planets the Supreme Leader had deemed 'uncooperative'. She wasn't even nervous about having to go up against the son of Luke Skywalker. HF-2428 was confident the stormtroopers she and the other pilots were flying down would be able to subdue the Skywalker boy. But she was on edge for some reason, and she wondered why. Then the AALs entered Tython's atmosphere, and HF-2428 stopped worrying as her heart, the hearts of every trooper on board, and the hearts of all the troopers in all the troop transports around them, suddenly stopped beating.

**0000000000**

Ben, Ahsoka and Ketu watched in silence as the troop transports smashed into the ground. Some exploded in balls of fire, but most simply crashed into crumpled pieces of metal. Ben couldn't help but shudder at the thought of what it must look like inside the transports. 'Well, that was easy', he laughed nervously, trying to lighten the mood. But Ahsoka shook her head.

'That was only the first wave', she said.

**0000000000**

Hux stared in disbelief from the bridge of _The Executioner_ as the troop transports slammed into Tython's surface. 'What happened?' he hissed at the technical personnel below him.

'Unclear, sir', one quickly said back to him. 'We saw no signs of engine failure from any of the transports. It appears that every trooper on board simply… _died_ as they entered the atmosphere.'

'Get me the Supreme Leader', Hux demanded.

**000000000**

Snoke was deeply intrigued to hear the news of over two hundred troopers suddenly dying as they entered Tython's atmosphere. He vaguely remembered hearing something about Tython only being liveable to force-sensitives, but he had previously dismissed it as mere nonsense. The loss of the troopers was… unfortunate, but nothing more. The Supreme Leader considered his options. On the one hand, he could have Tython blockaded and keep the Skywalker boy under siege for the foreseeable future. On the other… this could prove a useful test for his Knights of Ren. Capturing Ben Skywalker would be difficult for them, but Snoke had little doubt of their eagerness to prove themselves to him.

Snoke summoned the Knights of Ren to his room. Kylo led the way for the seven of them, striding forward confidently and kneeling before Snoke. All were clad in black with masks of various designs covering their faces, following the example of many darksiders before them. Yet, underneath the masks, Snoke sensed their fear of him, and he relished in it.

'What is thy bidding, master?' Kylo asked.

'The Skywalkers.' Snoke stated. 'They are a threat that must be dealt with to secure peace and order in the galaxy. As you likely already know, Ben Skywalker is on Tython, but his father is nowhere to be found. I need the son brought back here, alive, so the father's hiding place may be revealed. Cut off all his limbs if you have to, but _bring him back here alive_.'

'What of his master?' Kylo asked.

Snoke silently swore to himself. He had not considered the threat Tano could present, but the answer was obvious.

'Kill her', the Supreme Leader stated. 'She is too dangerous to be kept alive.'

The Knights of Ren bowed their heads, and stood to leave. 'Kylo', Snoke called out, 'stay behind.'

As the other Knights left, Kylo stood silently before his master.

'I wonder if you can do this', Snoke mused. 'Are you truly Kylo Ren, or does Jacen Solo still live within you?'

'I can', Kylo insisted. 'Ben Skywalker is _nothing_ to me'.

'We shall see, my apprentice. We shall see.'

**0000000000000**

Ben watched as the Star Destroyer jumped to hyperspace. 'They'll have figured it out by now', Ketu stated. 'Your cousin will be along shortly, I imagine. And you will have to face him.'

'With my help', Ahsoka said.

'But not yours?', Ben asked Ketu.

The Je'daii shook his head. 'Unfortunately, what remains of my connection to the Force does not extend to actual combat. I am sorry, but for now, you two are on your own.'

With that, Ketu vanished, and Ben was left alone with Ahsoka as night fell. They quickly made a fire, and sat together in silence as they ate their dinner. Then Ben was gripped by a sudden thought.

'You never did tell me how you ended up on Tython', Ben said. He suddenly felt ashamed. After all, he'd known Ahsoka for four years and had never once wondered what she was actually doing on Tython.

Ahsoka smiled grimly. 'It was during the time of the Empire. I was on Malachor- it's the location of a Sith Temple. Vader found me. We fought, and I lost.' Ahsoka drew aside her robes to reveal a wound on her belly. A wound that looked a lot like it had been caused by a lightsaber.

'Vader stabbed me, and left me to die', Ahsoka explained. 'I was just lying on the ground, waiting for death, and I was so scared of dying, I called upon the power of the dark side to heal myself. Then, Ketu appeared. He touched me on the forehead, and the next thing I knew, I was on Tython.'

Ben was appalled. 'Did Vader even hesitate?'

'No', Ahsoka replied. 'Those who rely solely on the dark side see emotional attachment as a weakness. Of course, Jedi see it as a weakness too, which is why I left the Order in the first place.'

'What do you mean?', Ben asked. He had secretly wondered how Ahsoka survived Order 66, but had the feeling it was too personal a question to ask.

'It's a long story', Ahsoka said wearily, 'but let's just say I was a loyal member of the Jedi Order for years, and the second they had any reason to doubt me, they turned on me and shunned me. I was framed, you see, for a crime I didn't commit.'

'And when the real culprit was found', Ahsoka continued, visible anger in her voice now, 'the Jedi did not even bother to admit their mistake. They simply passed it off as the will of the Force. It was in that moment I understood how the rest of the galaxy saw the Jedi. Not as saviours, but as desensitized, unfeeling dictators who thought just because the Force bestowed its power on them, they knew better than everyone else. So I left.'

'Do you think that my father's Jedi would have ended up like that, had they lived?', Ben asked.

'Eventually, in time. That is why I believe the Je'daii, the Grey Jedi, whatever you want to call them- they have to come back. They have to be the future, because only those who are balanced in the Force-'

'-can bring balance to the Force', Ben finished.

'Yes. That is why your cousin, Snoke, and everyone who stands with them have to die in order for the Force to truly live again.'

With that, the two Grey Jedi went to sleep.

**0000000000**

They arrived the very next day. Ben was sitting on the steps of the Je'daii Temple, aimlessly looking up at the sky, when he saw the starfighters drop out of hyperspace.

'Are you ready?', Ahsoka appeared besides Ben. Ben nodded grimly, as the ship slowly landed on Tython's surface. The two slowly walked towards the ships, as the black-clad figures disembarked from them. Ben recognised his cousin from the way he moved almost immediately, but he couldn't place the other six figures. He wondered which other apprentices had chosen the dark side over death. Ben tentatively reached out towards Jacen's mind, and was saddened to see nothing but darkness. It seemed that Jacen was truly gone.

The figures drew to a halt.

'Ben Skywalker', Jacen began. 'It's been a long time.'

'Jacen, I-', Ben began.

'My name is Kylo Ren', Jacen interrupted. His voice was distorted behind the mask he wore. There was clearly a scrambler in there.

'Oh Jacen, I'm so sorry', Ben whispered. It was truly heartbreaking to see his cousin like this.

'Kylo Ren?', Ahsoka asked. 'What, does your new master not think you're worthy of the title "Darth", yet?'

'We are not Sith', one of the other black-clad figures replied. 'The Sith are gone, and in their place, the Supreme Leader rules. We are the Knights of Ren, his humble servants.' This one's voice scrambler was so distorted, Ben didn't even know if whoever was under the mask was male or female.

'Where is your father?' Kylo Ren asked Ben.

'Haven't a clue', Ben replied.

'The Supreme Leader thinks otherwise. He wants you brought to him for questioning.'

'And what about me?' Ahsoka asked mockingly, like she already knew the answer.

'The Supreme Leader wants you dead. Surrender, and I promise your end will be swift', Kylo said.

Ahsoka smiled. 'I was hoping you'd say something like that', the old Togruta said, as she ignited her lightsabers. Ben did the same, and the Knights of Ren's blades shone red in return. There was a brief pause, then battle commenced.

**0000000000**

Ben had secretly resented his father in the early days of his training for never going easy on him in their sparring sessions. Now, Ben was nothing but grateful as he entered a real lightsaber duel for the first time. Kylo Ren and one of the other Knights quickly separated Ben from Ahsoka, as the remaining five surrounded her. Ben instantly realised that the plan was to keep them apart, to first overwhelm Ahsoka with numbers then subdue Ben the same way. Through brief flashes out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw Ahsoka slash her lightsabers through the hands of one clearly male Knight of Ren, and as he howled in pain, she cut his head off. But this was only a small victory, as another Knight's lightsaber stabbed Ahsoka in the leg. Ben's master howled, and he knew she wouldn't last much longer. But first he needed to concentrate on his own battle.

Kylo and the other Knight engaged Ben, red lightsabers flashing against green. Ben tried to draw on his force powers as he blocked blow after blow, but their lightsabers were moving so quickly, it was all he could do to survive the next move. Ben was put on the back foot as the two Knights of Ren advanced on him, and he quickly deactivated his lightsabers and force-pushed them away. Kylo Ren sprawled on the ground, but the other, anonymous Knight of Ren quickly regained its footing and came at Ben. But Ben was ready this time, and lifted his left hand, hoisting the Knight into the air by its throat. As the Knight dropped its lightsaber and grasped at its throat, Ben telekinetically yanked the Knight towards him, ignited his lightsaber, and drove it through the Knight's heart. As the Knight fell, he heard a wail behind him, and turned to see Ahsoka fell two more Knights of Ren in quick succession. But she was tiring, and as Kylo began running towards Ben again, Ahsoka was finally run through by one of the other remaining Knights.

At the sight of his master falling, Ben felt a rush of anger, and screamed his fury. And with that scream, he felt a rush of power, and lightning burst forth from his fingers, hitting the two Knights standing over his fallen master. As they fell back, writhing in agony, Ben turned his attention back to Kylo Ren, and felt a whisper of fear from the masked creature that had once been his cousin.

'You are afraid', Ben snarled. 'Good.'

Kylo raised his lightsaber, but Ben had already turned the stream of lightning in his direction. The dark warrior raised his red blade to block the bolts, but one caught the handle and split it in half, deactivating the blade. Even from a distance, Ben could see he had cracked the Kyber crystal within. Kylo hesitated for a moment, then started running for his ship, carrying the shattered remains of his lightsaber.

'Coward!', Ben bellowed. He raised his hand to pull Kylo back, but at that moment, the two remaining Knights of Ren, recovered from Ben's attack, charged him with red lightsabers ignited. Drawing on the dark side, Ben pushed one away, seized the other by the throat and started slowly choking them to death. But the pushed one recovered, and reached out a hand. Ben felt his lightsabers fly off his belt, and the Knight of Ren cut them in half, destroying them. Ben growled and snapped the other Knight's neck, and as the final remaining Knight charged the now weaponless Ben, Ben quickly summoned one of the fallen Knight's lightsabers to his hand, and ignited it. As the Knight swung his blade, Ben did the same, then at the last second, deactivated it. Expecting to feel the weight of the other lightsaber, the Knight was caught off-guard by Ben's use of _Trakata_ , and stumbled forward. Ben immediately re-ignited the lightsaber and swung the red blade around, decapitating the darksider. As he did so, Ben saw Kylo's ship taking off into the atmosphere. _Dammit_ , Ben cursed, as he ran over to Ahsoka, whose breath was rattling in her throat.

'Master!', Ben said, as he placed his hands on the wound in Ahsoka's chest and prepared to heal her with the Force. But Ahsoka gripped his wrists with surprising strength, preventing him from doing so.

'Don't', Ahsoka gasped. 'It's… too late. I can… feel it coming.'

'Ahsoka, don't die, please don't die', Ben begged.

'It's okay', Ahsoka said. 'You will manage… without us.'

'But I need you. I need you to help me bring balance to the Force.'

'No… you don't', Ahsoka coughed. She smiled at Ben. 'You know… I always thought that the Force put you in my path. But maybe… maybe it was putting me in yours.'

And with that, Ahsoka Tano, the last surviving member of the old Jedi Order, breathed her last. And Ben began to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for killing Ahsoka, but I honestly didn't know what to do with her after this point. Please leave reviews, I want to know what you guys think of the story so far.


	7. Homecoming

Ben immediately set to work burning Ahsoka's body. It was unwise to bury corpses on Tython, as the numerous animals that populated the planet were likely to dig them up and eat them. Ben didn't feel much like extending the same kindness to the Knights of Ren, so he left their bodies for the Vornskrs to snack on. He didn't bother removing their helmets. He didn't want to know which apprentices they had been.

As Ben completed the funeral pyre, Ketu appeared beside him. After setting the pyre alight, the two watched in silence as Ahsoka's body burned. Then Ketu spoke.

'What will you do now?' he asked.

'I… I don't know', Ben confessed. 'But I know that the First Order must be destroyed. And I know that I will have to face Jacen someday. And only one of us will walk away.'

'It is a shame', Ketu stated. 'I have watched the galaxy evolve for thousands upon thousands of years, but… there have been few families as strong in the Force as yours. Maybe Revan's… but that is not important right now.'

The Je'daii paused. 'I suppose you are different, seeing as you are the first Skywalker to be a Grey Jedi. But you are not just a Skywalker. You are also a Kryze.'

'Yeah. So?'

'It will take an army to destroy the First Order.' Ketu simply stated.

Confused, Ben started to ask what he meant by that, then suddenly realised.

'I don't know if even an army of Mandalorians would be enough to stop the First Order.'

'Maybe not. But a Skywalker at the head of a Mandalorian army… may just be enough for the rest of the galaxy to start taking the First Order seriously.'

Ben pondered this. He couldn't deny it was a good idea, but he had no idea if Mandalorians would ever follow a Jedi, even one who came from their world. He turned to face Ketu.

'If I do as you suggest, I may not come back to Tython for years, if at all. How will I resist the pull to the darkness off-world?'

'Remember the code of the Je'daii. And… when an apprentice is close to falling to the dark side, there are always tells. Physical tells. In the case of humanoids… it is a yellow glow in the eyes.'

'So whenever my eyes start glowing yellow, say the mantra?', Ben asked.

'Over and over. Until you have regained control.'

With that, Ketu vanished. Somehow, Ben knew it would be a long time before he saw Ketu again, if at all. With Ahsoka's body sufficiently burnt, Ben sealed her ashes away in the Temple, and took out her lightsabers. It was tradition that a force-wielder's weapons be buried with them, but Ben did need new lightsabers. Or more specifically, new kyber crystals, the force-attuned materials which powered the lightsabers' blades. The kyber crystals within Ben's own lightsabers had been destroyed when the Knight had cut the handles in half, so new ones were a must. But he had no desire to use a crystal which had belonged to a darksider, so he retrieved the Kyber crystals within the Knights' lightsabers, crushed them into powder and scattered them to the wind. Ahsoka's lightsabers were far too long and thin for Ben to handle properly, so he carefully extracted the crystals within them, and reconstructed his own weapons with them inside. When he activated the blades, they were as white as they had been when Ahsoka had wielded them. Satisfied, Ben packed _Blackjack_ with his belongings, then set course for Mandalore.

**00000000000**

Kylo Ren knelt before his master. Snoke didn't need to use the Force to know he was terrified. And with good reason, too. Because Snoke was _furious_ at him.

'Kindly explain to me', the Supreme Leader said, his voice as cold as ice, 'how two Grey Jedi were able to defeat seven Knights of Ren.'

'W-we underestimated them', Kylo stammered. 'The Skywalker boy… he was more advanced in the dark arts than we anticipated. Apparently he can cast Force Lightning.'

Snoke drew in a breath. Force Lightning was something only masters of the dark side were supposed to be able to do. If Ben Skywalker could cast it, and still resist the pull to the dark, it meant there was little hope of Snoke bringing the boy under his thumb. And if Skywalker did fall to the dark side completely… it could mean the rise of a new Sith Lord. One who would be the rival, and perhaps even the superior of Snoke. That being said, Snoke was no longer surprised Skywalker had defeated his Knights. In fact, he should have anticipated it. But of course, he could not admit his mistake to his apprentice. Doing so was a sign of weakness. So he focused his gaze on Kylo, and focused on finding a suitable punishment for his failure.

'Is Tano dead, at least?' he asked.

'Yes.'

'Good. Then your punishment will not be death. Take out your lightsaber.'

Kylo extracted the split handle from his robes and laid it in front of his master.

'Is the crystal within destroyed?'

'Badly damaged. I will need a new one.'

'No, the one you have will suffice', Snoke simply stated.

Kylo froze. _What?!_ He thought back to his time as a Jedi apprentice. Master Skywalker had repeatedly stated that for a lightsaber's blade to function properly, the kyber crystal within had to be undamaged. Using a damaged crystal risked the lightsaber exploding with the power of a hand grenade when ignited. If Kylo continued to use the crystal he had, he would risk blowing his hand off every time he activated his weapon. And he would be lucky if a hand was all he lost.

'At least, it will suffice until the Skywalkers are dead', Snoke stated, and Kylo's heart sank.

'Peace, my apprentice. All you have to do to minimise the risk is add a crossguard to your blade. It will divert the heat away… but not completely', Snoke said, a nasty grin upon his face.

As for Ben Skywalker, well… Snoke was certain he would not have stayed on Tython. And the moment he and the First Order crossed paths again, the latter would be ready for him. After Kylo Ren left Snoke's throne room, the Supreme Leader immediately notified his High Command to tell their troops that as of now, Luke and Ben Skywalker were considered Public Enemies Number One and Two, respectively, and any information brought to Snoke on either of them would be richly rewarded. The moment the Skywalkers revealed themselves, the First Order would be ready for them. In the meantime, delegates had already been sent to Ben Skywalker's home planet of Mandalore to begin negotiations. The reason for Snoke moving so quickly to secure peace with Mandalore was based around the fact that its _Mand'alor_ , or Governess, happened to be Bo-Katan Kryze. Who happened to be the grandmother ( _ba'buir_ in her native tongue) of Ben Skywalker. Although she was nearing eighty years old now, Snoke was aware of the ferocious nature of Mandalore's Governess. The woman had fought in both the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War, after all. Peace talks would be a delicate matter, but with any luck, Snoke may soon have Mandalorian warriors fighting for the First Order.

**00000000000**

As Ben dropped out of hyperspace, the sight of Mandalore caught his breath, as it always did. The countless wars his mother's people had fought in had reduced their once-glorious planet to a barren wasteland. In order to protect themselves, those who lived on the planet did so in bio-cube cities, and it was to one of these that Ben now flew. House Kryze, being the ruling House of the planet, owned a bio-cube all to themselves, which Ben now flew towards. Transmitting the access codes, Ben flew _Blackjack_ through the hole that opened in the cube, and landed just in front of the mansion his mother's family lived in. Walking outside, Ben was surprised to find nobody around. Then…

'YAAAHHHH!' came a voice behind Ben. Instinctively rolling away as the staff smashed into the spot where he had been moments before, Ben immediately reached for his lightsabers, then once he saw who it was, started laughing.

'So close!' Mayli whined in Mando'a, Mandalore's native tongue.

Ben grinned at his thirteen-year-old sister. Well, half-sister really, but they loved each other all the same. Ben pulled Mayli into a tight hug, despite her squirming, and kissed her on the forehead.

'Hey, baby sister', he said.

'I'm not a baby anymore, Ben.'

'You will never not be a baby to me.'

'Hey!'

Ben couldn't help but laugh. After all the stress he'd been going through recently, it felt good to actually laugh again.

'Where are the others?' he asked.

'Ishi and Lizzy went with Mum and Dad to Sundari to see Gran.'

Ben frowned. Sundari was Mandalore's capital city. It was where his grandmother, Bo-Katan, lived and carried out her duties as Governess.

'Why wouldn't they let you go?'

Mayli shrugged. 'They wouldn't let me. Said I wouldn't understand why. Now, can you catch me or not?'

Ben grinned as he started play-chasing his little sister around the gardens of their home.

**0000000000**

Night had fallen by the time the rest of Ben's maternal family arrived home. As the ship landed, Mira Kryze instantly ran out and enveloped her son in kisses, despite his protests. 'I heard what happened with your father. I was so worried…'

'It's okay, Mum. I'm alright.'

Mira grinned through tears of relief as she stroked Ben's face. Her light brown hair, identical to Ben's own, was now streaked through with grey, and Ben worried at the stress he had probably been putting her through. Then Ben was wrapped in the tight embraces of his other sisters. Ishale, who everybody called Ishi, was eighteen, with dirty-blonde hair and a powerful build. Ben had little doubt his mother had been grooming her to become head of House Kryze. Lizzy, meanwhile, was sixteen, somewhat slimly built, with black hair and creamy skin she had inherited from the girls' father, Cecil, who was quick to enthusiastically pump Ben's hand in greeting. Ben couldn't help but feel relieved that they were all safe from the First Order. But these feelings were quickly dashed when he saw one last figure emerge from his family's ship, accompanied by two guards.

'Ba'buir?' Ben asked in disbelief.

Despite being seventy-six years old, years of fighting in war had helped Bo-Katan Kryze stay fitter and in better health than most people her age, and the hug she gave her eldest _bu'ad_ (grandchild) was indeed a strong one. But as she pulled away, Ben saw that his grandmother's green eyes, which mirrored his own, were sad.

'What is it?'

Bo-Katan sighed. 'Let's go inside. There is much to talk about.'

**0000000000**

'Three days ago', Bo-Katan began as she, Ben, Mira and Cecil sat at the dining table in Mira's house, 'these people showed up, who said they were from the First Order. They spoke about the corruption within the Republic, said they were the better option to follow. Nothing I hadn't heard before, really. I thought at first, like the Republic does, they were just fanatics who wanted to bring the Empire back. Then they showed me how powerful they really were.'

Bo-Katan pulled out a small holoprojector from her robes, and placed it on the table. Almost immediately, an image of troops wearing white armour, fighter pilots and vehicles Ben recognised as AT-AT walkers appeared. As the image slowly expanded, Ben realised there were thousands of them. Maybe even tens of thousands.

'This image was taken last week, apparently at the place where the First Order's base is', Bo-Katan said.

Ben was dumbfounded. 'This has to be sent to Leia. Maybe if she shows it to the Senate, they'll finally start listening to her.'

'It already has been sent to your aunt', Cecil stated. 'She was supposed to share it with the Senate today.'

As if on cue, Bo-Katan's holoprojector beeped to signal an incoming call.

'That should be her now', Bo-Katan said as she answered it.

Sure enough, Leia's image appeared. 'It went even worse than I thought it would-' she began, then her face lit up as she spied her nephew.

'Ben, oh thank the Force, I was afraid…' Leia trailed off, but Ben knew what she was about to say.

_That Jacen had killed you._

'It's alright, Aunt Leia, I'm fine', Ben said. 'I saw the photograph of the First Order. How did the Senate take it?'

'Not well, I'm afraid', Leia sighed. 'They accused me of being a paranoid warmonger _again_ , and when I showed them the image, they laughed and said it had to be faked.'

Ben felt his anger grow. 'What did Chancellor Villecham say?' Mira asked.

Leia laughed mirthlessly. 'That old furball? He said as long as there was no proof the First Order was breaking the Galactic Concordance, the Republic military would not interfere.'

Leia paused. 'Of course he said before that the Republic would not interfere without proof of the First Order's power, and considering that's just been shoved in his face and he _still_ won't help, I don't think we're ever getting his help. Hopefully, the next Chancellor will actually have a spine, but until then… the Resistance will be all that stands between the First Order and its plans for the galaxy.'

'The Resistance?', Ben asked.

'A military organisation, based on the ideals of the Rebellion when we faced the Empire.' Leia answered.

'And Mandalore will join you?' Ben asked. Despite the situation, he couldn't help feeling excited. Having grow up on stories of the Galactic Civil War, he'd always dreamed of being able to fight in the Rebellion.

'Unofficially, for now', Bo-Katan answered. 'Officially, Mandalore will refuse the First Order's offer, and play the part of pacifists in the Senate. Unofficially, however… we will begin training a military in the mines of Concordia, our moon. It's how Death Watch rose without the Republic's knowledge. That way, when the First Order inevitably reveals its true nature to the galaxy, Mandalore will be prepared to help the Resistance in any way. There is no open conflict between the First Order and the Resistance yet, is there, General?'

'Not yet', Leia replied, 'but it's only a matter of time'.

'Then for now', Bo-Katan said, 'Mandalore will organise a strikeforce, allied to the Resistance, which will be made up of already-trained warriors we can trust.'

'A strikeforce?' Ben asked.

'Yes. And you will lead them.'

Ben was shocked. 'Me?' he said, in a voice much higher than he would have preferred.

'Don't worry. You will receive the necessary training for leading warriors into battle', Bo-Katan replied.

'I can help with that', Leia said. 'I am sending someone to you. Someone who served as a military advisor to the Rebellion.'

'It will be necessary training for when the time comes for you to _truly_ lead', Mira added.

Ben suddenly realised his family's intentions. 'You want me to lead the Mandalorian military we are organising against the First Order?'

When nobody refuted this, Ben felt his blood turn to ice. He remembered Ketu talking about him leading the Mandalorian people, but knowing it was actually possible was an entirely different matter.

'That's enough for today', Bo-Katan said. 'For now, let's go to bed. We leave for Concordia in two days' time.'

'My advisor will be with you by tomorrow', Leia stated. 'If it's not too much trouble, may I have a word alone with my nephew?'

The others nodded, and left the room, leaving Ben alone with Leia. After a brief pause, Leia's face softened.

'How are you _really_ doing?' she asked Ben.

Ben hesitated, then began to talk about Jacen, the Knights of Ren and the result of them coming to Tython. By the time he was finished, Leia looked like she was on the verge of tears.

'I didn't want to believe it was him', she whispered, and Ben realised he couldn't even imagine what his aunt must be going through.

'But', Leia continued, 'we have to be strong now. Can you do that?'

'I don't know', Ben said. It seemed he didn't know a lot about himself these days. 'How's Han doing?'

'Han had to… leave', Leia said quietly. 'When he heard the news, he took Chewbacca and the _Falcon_ and left. I suppose he's grieving, in his own way.'

Ben nodded. 'What about my dad? Have you seen him?'

'Not recently. He turned up a while ago, said he was going to go looking for the first Jedi Temple, and the next day he was just gone. He left Artoo behind, but the second he found out Luke was gone, Artoo just… shut down. He refuses to wake up for anything.'

Ben was unsure what to say in response, so he kept his mouth shut. Leia studied Ben for a while, then spoke again.

'I wish it wasn't like this', she said. 'When the Empire was destroyed, I thought… maybe now the galaxy could rebuild. Maybe Jacen and you would never know the struggles we did. Maybe you would know peace. Unfortunately, it seems you have inherited our enemies.'

'Then this time, we will make sure they are destroyed for good', Ben said fiercely. He was trying to be brave, but his stomach felt like it was filled with snakes.

His false bravado did not fool Leia, and she smiled at him.

'Get some rest, Benny', she said soothingly. 'You will need it for what is to come.'

'When will I see you again?', Ben asked. He did not mean to sound like a pouting child, but Leia was practically the only family on his father's side he had left.

Leia smiled. 'I don't know… but hopefully soon.'

With that, Ben's aunt signed off, and he was left alone.

**0000000000**

As Leia promised, a ship pulled into the Kryze's bio-cube the next day.

'I guess this is the military advisor', Ishi said, as the cockpit opened.

Ben had been expecting an old man or woman. He got neither. As the dark green, humanoid-shaped droid, which was easily two metres tall, exited the ship, it looked around, before settling its gaze on Ben.

'Benjamin Skywalker?' it asked, with easily the most robot-like voice Ben had ever heard.

'Uh… yes?'

'My name is Kalani. General Organa said I am to serve you.'


	8. Training

As Ben flew _Blackjack_ towards Concordia, Kalani occupied him with tales of his past. Ben was surprised to learn that the droid had originally been a General for the Separatists during the Clone Wars.

'I heard that after Order 66, the Droid Army was given a shut-down command. How are you still operational?'

'I calculated that the shut-down command was a Republic trick, and did not obey it. My troops and I remained on Agamar, until the Empire found us.'

'Is that how you ended up joining the Rebellion?'

'No. After my first encounter with the Empire, I calculated that the Rebel Alliance had only a one per cent chance of victory in any form of armed conflict against them. When the Death Star was destroyed, I realised that I had… miscalculated.'

_Fancy way of admitting you were wrong_ , Ben thought, but didn't say.

'I joined the Rebellion shortly after', Kalani continued. 'It was only after the Battle of Jakku, where the Empire was finally defeated, that I decided to go into shut-down mode. General Organa revived and re-programmed me to follow her orders. Currently, my orders from her are to serve you in your mission as designated survivor.'

'Designated survivor?', Ben asked.

'Whoever has a position of command within a military or governmental organisation, but is physically distant from other commanders. Therefore, if a situation ever arose where the other commanders were terminated, the designated survivor would instantly assume command of the organisation to prevent it from collapsing.'

Ben was starting to understand the game Leia was playing, and he didn't much like the idea of being commander of an army he had absolutely no experience in leading. But at least he was only Leia's failsafe, not her heir.

As _Blackjack_ drew closer to Concordia, he caught sight of his grandmother's governmental ship, flanked by defensive fighters, already on the surface. Landing next to it, he caught sight of figures seated around a table nearby, at which his grandmother and several others were seated. So they had already arrived. Ben felt slightly miffed that Bo-Katan had not told him she was leaving early, but it wasn't really important. Kalani and he exited the ship, and walked over.

'Ben, good to see you. Come, we've saved you a seat', Bo-Katan called out, drawing his attention to the others seated around the table. One was an old man, clearly a former warrior, with scars covering his face, another was a great, hulking brute of a boy, about Ben's age, with a shaved head, and the third was a tall, pretty girl with wavy red hair, also about Ben's age. She smiled at Ben as he approached, and he felt a jolt in his stomach that somehow didn't seem to have anything to do with the breakfast he had hurried down that morning.

Ben quietly took his seat next to Bo-Katan, and his grandmother made introductions.

'This is Tyzen Vizsla', she began, motioning towards the brute, who was not-so-subtly sizing Ben up like he was a meal. 'Top of his class in hand-to-hand combat and physical fitness. His father was a Protector, so Tyzen here sought to continue his father's legacy.'

The Protectors were the elite bodyguards that served Bo-Katan. They were also the only Mandalorians left that received official military training. It made sense that if Bo-Katan was looking for warriors for a secret strikeforce, she would recruit them from the only real warriors Mandalore had left.

'This', Bo-Katan continued, now looking at the girl, 'is Kara Fett. Expert sharpshooter, able to take out targets up to two kilometres away. Also a qualified pilot.'

Ben was surprised to hear the name "Fett" mentioned. He knew the Fett family had been Mandalorian, but the only Fett he'd ever heard of had been the bounty hunter-

'Boba Fett', Bo-Katan interrupted Ben's thoughts with the same name swimming through Ben's mind. Ben realised she was gesturing towards the old man.

Ben was caught off-guard. 'I'm sorry- _what_ now?'

'I said', Bo-Katan explained, 'this is Boba Fett, Kara's adoptive father. Former bounty hunter, now combat instructor for the Protectors. He and your family have a… history.'

'That's putting it mildly', Boba grinned.

Ben was still having trouble processing that the man sitting in front of him was the bounty hunter who had hounded his family for years before…

'Wait', Ben said. 'My father told me you fell into a Sarlacc pit on Tatooine. How did you get out of _that_?'

Boba winced. 'A very long and frankly quite _disgusting_ story for another time. Anyway, that's not why we are here.'

'Correct', Bo-Katan said. 'We are here to discuss the formation of a new Mandalorian military. It will be done entirely in secret, of course. The galaxy knows the history of our people all too well, and if we were to begin raising any kind of army in public, the Republic would crush us like bugs, no questions asked, and we would never be able to aid them against the First Order when those fanatics finally rear their ugly heads.'

'So it's true?' Kara spoke for the first time. Her voice, Ben noticed, was delightfully soft and pleasant. 'This First Order is the new Empire?'

In response, Bo-Katan showed the others the image she had been given by the First Order delegates. Their eyes widened with shock as they took in the sheer scale of the army on display. Bo-Katan turned the image off, and continued.

'Fortunately, it seems that Leia Organa is forming a military of her own dubbed the "Resistance" in response to this threat, but it will likely not be enough. Which is why, legally formed or not, the galaxy needs a trained, organised, _Mandalorian_ army to aid the Resistance. But first, we must build a small, yet elite force of those among our people considered truly exceptional, because in my experience of war, a small team comprised of exceptional people can prove devastatingly effective against the enemy. The individual skills you possess will complement each other in a way the First Order will never see coming.'

'Your mission', Bo-Katan continued, 'will be centred around all manner of things. Espionage, sabotage, extraction, assassination- anything which can be done in the name of hamstringing the First Order and aiding the Resistance. Boba will train you all to work as a team, because it will be vital to the success of your mission to do so.'

'We will need more than three people for this', Ben said.

Bo-Katan raised an eyebrow. 'Really? Who else do you think we need, Ben?'

Ben couldn't help but feel that his _ba'buir_ was testing him, somehow, but he went along with it anyway.

'Well, the three of us are all warriors. When it comes to espionage and sabotage and things like that, warriors are not the only vital feature of a team. We will need a slicer, to bypass First Order security. We will probably need a forger too, to organise fake identification and the like. We'll also need someone experienced in explosives, in case a "distraction" is ever required. And finally, we need a mechanic, to fix the ships we will be using in case they are ever damaged.'

There was a pause. Everyone was looking at Ben with expressions of shock on their faces, with the exception of Kalani, of course, whose face couldn't move. And with the exception of Bo-Katan, too, who was beaming.

' _Very_ well done, Ben', she said, pride obvious in her voice. 'And _that_ higher thinking is why you are going to be the leader of this squad.'

Ben could hardly believe he had come up with all that himself. It had just seemed so… obvious to him.

Tyzen now spoke. His voice was deep, and powerful. 'Have you come up with a name for this unit yet, _Mand'alor_?'

'Oh yes', Bo-Katan smiled. 'You will be known as the Ghosts.'

**00000000000**

The day passed by in a blur after that. Bo-Katan left for Mandalore, and Boba took Ben, Kara and Tyzen into an elevator shaft travelling down into the mines of Concordia. Looking outside the lift, the three were surprised to see that within the mine, there was what looked like training grounds, dining halls, and all manner of things clearly made to represent a military barracks.

'This was Death Watch's base', Boba explained. 'Now it's the place where you will train to become a unit.'

He showed each of them to separate rooms. Ben saw that there was a set of blue-and-grey clothes and boots set out on his bed, which he was clearly meant to wear while training to be a unit with the others. There was also a clock on one of the walls, with a schedule right next to it.

_Ba'buir's been planning ahead_ , Ben thought. He could scarcely believe this was happening to him. All of a sudden, he was expected to command some strikeforce devoted to fighting an army based on the tyrannical Empire he'd grown up hearing about? Then there was the matter of the Knights of Ren he'd killed back on Tython. Ben hadn't thought about it at the time, but when it had come to killing the Knights, there had been surprisingly little difference between them and the Vornskrs. A lightsaber swing, and a fallen body at the end of it. Yet, there was so much difference in it. While the Vornskrs were animals, the Knights of Ren had been people. Sure, they may have been trying to kill him when he cut them down, but they were still people. Ben decided to put it aside for now. It wouldn't do for him to appear indecisive in front of the people he was supposed to lead into battle. Dinner was at 7pm, so when the clock on his wall said 18:40 Ben changed into the Mandalorian army clothes and left for the dining hall he had seen earlier. Kara and Tyzen were already there, dressed in the same uniform.

'Ben!', Tyzen called him over. 'Come sit with us!'

Ben had been dreading having to ask to sit with the others, so he was grateful for the invitation. After the droid chefs served the three dinner, Kara and Tyzen asked Ben all manner of questions about what life was like as a Jedi, how it felt to use the Force, and so on. Ben decided not to tell them about being a Grey Jedi. It was likely they would not understand. What he found strange about the Kara and Tyzen was that even though they knew who he was, they were already treating him like he was a friend. Ben found that he was quite pleased to be making friends. It made a nice change from the bullying he had had to undergo at his father's Temple.

The next day, the other members of the team arrived on Concordia. The three watched as the ship disembarked, and several people started spilling out. First came a short, fat, blond-haired boy, who practically waddled out. Then came a tall, thin, dark-haired girl with a gaunt face and grubby appearance. She was right next to a boy who greatly resembled her.

'Those two look like they've been pulled right out of a sewer', Kara whispered to Ben and Tyzen. Ben found himself agreeing.

Finally, to Ben's delight, came Ishi, who threw her arms around his neck in a joyful embrace. 'Hello, big brother', she said with a grin, 'Ba'buir said I was to join you'.

Ishi then introduced them to the other three. 'Everyone, this is Seith Glasvyrn, explosives expert and weapon-maker for the Protectors', she began, gesturing to the fat boy. 'And these', Ishi continued, pointing to the other two, 'are the Durran twins. Beti', she said, gesturing to the girl, 'is a forger, while Desric is a slicer.'

'Oh, yeah', said Tyzen. 'I've heard about you two. Haven't you stolen the identities of half of Mandalore's population?'

'That's an exaggeration,' Beti shot back.

'Not by much, though,' Desric grinned.

'I thought you two were in prison', Kara said.

'The Governess let us out', Beti, showing a row of yellow teeth Ben would rather have not seen. 'Said as long as we followed the orders of the guy in charge, they wouldn't throw us back in. Who is in charge, anyway?'

'Me', Ben said.

Desric looked him up and down. 'You?' he asked incredulously.

'Yeah', Ben growled, levitating a rock off the ground without touching it.

Everyone looked at the rock incredulously.

'That is _so cool_ ', Seith suddenly said. 'You're a Jedi?'

'Not just a Jedi. He's also my brother', Ishi said proudly.

Seith and the Durran twins' eyes were practically out on stalks.

' _You're_ Ben Skywalker?' Beti asked.

'Oh my God, I have _so many questions_ ', Seith said. 'Do you have a lightsaber? Can I hold it? What's it like using the Force? What was it like growing up with your dad as your boss-'

'Questions for another time', Boba suddenly said, appearing besides them with Kalani. 'Training is about to start.'

**000000000**

Training to be part of a team was… challenging, to say the least, for Ben. All his life, he'd tended to go things alone, so the sudden transition was a major step outside Ben's comfort zone. Yet, he had to admit, it was nice to have friends. Even if you would be their leader and the one who would be giving them orders on missions.

**0000000000**

Training started with blasters at 6am sharp everyday. While Ben had held and fired blasters before, this was the first time in his life he had to almost exclusively use them instead of his lightsabers. Boba was an uncompromising teacher, never accepting the past as an excuse for incompetence.

'The average person practices with their blaster until they get it right', he would say, then 'a Mandalorian, on the other hand? We practice until we _never get it wrong_ … and then we keep practicing'.

Kara and Tyzen had the advantage in shooting practice due to their experience as Bo-Katan's bodyguards, but even they had no idea how to use some of the blasters Boba was training them in. Boba insisted that it was important they learn to use as many types of weapons as possible. Before long, Ben was able to take apart blasters with his bare hands in 40 seconds (56 while blindfolded, which they often were).

**0000000000**

Due to his overweight nature, Seith could hardly be expected to be a valuable player during missions involving stealth, so it was decided that he would be the getaway flyer during missions. Almost every day, he would be taken out in _Blackjack_ and practice making quick escapes.

The other six, on the other hand, trained almost everyday in espionage, sabotage and everything that they would have to do to fight the First Order. Since Seith was also the explosives expert, Boba put him in charge of blowing things up at the most random times he could think of whenever the other six trained. Often he would set off sticks of dynamite or plastic explosive putty whenever the others were sleeping, when they were eating, and especially when they were shooting. It scared them senseless at first, but they learned to anticipate it, and after a while they were all able to empty full clips of blaster bolts into practice targets, and barely even flinch in response to the explosions going off all around them.

**0000000000**

Since she was the sharpshooter, Kara received extensive training from her adopted father on the best way to assassinate targets from long distances; how to tell if your target was behind blaster-proof material, which weapon would be the best option for the environment she was in, and so on.

**0000000000**

Espionage was all about secrecy. All the trainees learned how to pick locks and plant listening devices. But nobody was Desric's equal when it came to hacking into technology, and nobody was Beti's equal at forging false identities. Boba encouraged the twins to practice their individual talents in every bit of spare time they had.

**0000000000**

With the exception of Seith, all of them were trained in sea, air and land combat. Boba would punish everyone if just one of them made a mistake, so the trainees slowly developed a sixth sense for helping each other out. Tyzen was scared of heights, so when they practiced jumping out of _Blackjack_ at a high altitude, two of the others would stand on either side of him and jump out together. Beti had a bad back from a childhood injury, so everyone packed medication for in case it ever acted up whenever they ran simulated missions. Ishi was forgetful when it came to bringing the right gear, so they always made sure to pack a spare everything whenever they took _Blackjack_ out to sea, or land, or air to practice.

**0000000000**

Ben, meanwhile, received extra training in leadership. It would be up to him to plan missions out, have a back-up plan, then be able to come up with other plans on the spot when all others failed. For this, he had Kalani's help. The droid wasn't much for physical combat, but he had a head for military strategy unlike anything Ben had ever seen before.

**0000000000**

Time somehow passed by both slowly and quickly while they were training. After eight months, the Ghosts were shown to a room where sets of Mandalorian armour were laid out. All of them were completely black from head to toe, with the exception of one, which also had red markings on it. Ben guessed this was his, to mark him as the leader.

'Beautiful, aren't they?' Bo-Katan said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

'What are they made of?', Ishi asked. 'That doesn't look like any kind of armour I've seen before.'

'Do you know what kind of material was mined, here on Concordia?', the Governess asked.

'Yeah, it was beskar… oh', Ishi trailed off, and Ben suddenly realised what the suits lying before them were. An iron ore which was only found in the mines of Concordia, beskar was one of the few materials in the galaxy which was resistant to even armour-piercing blaster bolts. It was also one of the exactly five that could directly stop the blade of a lightsaber.

'I thought the beskar mines had been completely stripped', Desric commented.

Bo-Katan nodded. 'So does the rest of the galaxy. And that is what it will continue to think. Is that clear?'

The trainees nodded.

'Seith', Boba spoke. 'Didn't you have something else you wanted to show us?'

'Oh, yeah', Seith suddenly grinned. The weapons master instructed everyone to sit down, then produced a hologram of what looked like a blaster.

'This is a new little creation of mine, and I have no doubt in saying it's my best one ever. It runs on either technological or solar power, so all you need to do to reload it is plug it up or stick it out in the sun. Also, there are actually six different settings for bolts in these babies, and guess what? They're all voice activated', Seith said, grinning wildly.

Ben had to admit, he'd vastly underestimated his friend's genius when it came to weaponry.

'The settings are as follows: stun, regular fire, rapid fire, smoke, armour-piercing and incendiary. To activate them, you say "stun", "regular", "rapid", "smoke", "AP" or "incendiary". You say the word, and the bolts about to be fired change to that setting. The settings on each individual weapon will also only change in response to the voice of the person who owns it, and I also took the liberty of coding each handle to your palmprints, so only you can fire it.'

The other six trainees couldn't help but gawp at Seith.

**0000000000**

One day, almost a full year after training had begun, Boba gathered the seven Ghosts outside their training centre and, to their great surprise, told them that the only thing they needed to do to graduate was answer one simple question: What was the worst thing that could happen on a mission?

'We get killed?' Beti asked.

Boba shook his head. 'Keep guessing.'

'We get caught', Ben answered.

Boba blinked. 'Correct.'

The other trainees looked respectfully at Ben, and Kara smiled. Ben couldn't stop a small blush reaching his cheeks. Kara had such a lovely smile, and there were often nights where Ben dreamed of what it would feel like to run his fingers through her beautiful red hair and press his lips to hers. But he couldn't afford to think like that right now, so he concentrated on what Boba was saying.

'Getting caught is the worst thing that can happen on a missions like the ones you will be going on because being taken alive means you will be tortured for information. You can lie to yourself about how you can resist any form of torture there is. But I've seen torture. Hell, I tortured people myself when I was on Lord Vader's payroll. And if there's one thing I have to say about torture, it's this: nobody, and I mean _nobody_ , can resist it forever. And when you crack, who's to say you won't reveal who you are, and the nature of what we are doing here?'

Everyone fell silent.

'Fortunately, however', Boba continued, 'our friend Seith here has developed something in case one of you ever _does_ get caught. Isn't that right, Seith?'

'Yeah', Seith mumbled.

He wasn't smiling when he showed them his invention this time.

From his pocket, Seith withdrew what appeared to be a small black box, no bigger than Ben's little fingernail.

'This is an explosive I've been working on for a while, now. It may look small, but I can assure you it's about as harmless as a box full of grenades.'

'What's it meant for?', Tyzen asked in a hushed voice. They all already knew, though. Ben could tell.

'This device will be injected into your neck, and if you are ever caught by the enemy, you only have to say a simple phrase to… activate it. I've made sure it can only be activated by the person who it's inside', Seith explained.

'What's the phrase?' Ben asked.

'"My fight is over"'.

Ben couldn't help but shudder at the chillingly appropriate words.


	9. First Mission

As the newly-graduated Ghosts assembled in a briefing room for their first mission, they were greeted by Boba, who quickly brought up a holographic projection of a planet that basically looked like one big swamp.

'Twon Ketee', Boba explained. 'For the last few weeks, the First Order has been sending ships down there and back. Cargo ships. We believe they are taking something from the planet.'

'Any idea what?' asked Ben.

'No, but we know it's probably not good', Boba answered. 'Pretty much everything on Twon Ketee is dangerous- even the air is toxic. For all we know, _that's_ what the First Order might be harvesting. Your mission is to find out what it is, then take measures to ensure it never gets wherever it's going.'

'Got any advice for how we may succeed?' Ben asked, half-jokingly.

'Don't be afraid to do what must be done. Right now, we can afford no loose ends.'

**000000000**

'Where's my ship?' Ben asked.

Seith merely smiled.

Everyone looked around the empty hangar. After finishing their briefing, the Ghosts had gone to the hangar where _Blackjack_ was usually stored, only to find that the hangar was completely empty except for a broadly grinning Seith.

'You're looking at it', the technological genius laughed.

'What, did it turn into you?', Tyzen asked mockingly.

Seith's face sank. 'Boy, you guys really can't take a joke, can you?', he muttered, as he took out a remote and hit the button on it. Almost immediately, the air behind him shimmered and shook, forming into… _Blackjack_.

'You found a way to cloak it?' Beti asked, awe in her voice.

Seith shrugged. 'Old Clone Wars technology. I merely found a way to replicate it.'

Yet again, Ben was surprised at his friend's genius. It was one thing to cloak a ship from a tracking device, but to shield it completely from the naked eye… that was something else entirely.

Then Seith dropped another bombshell. 'I put the same thing in each of your suits', he said. 'I figured that if we're going to be called "Ghosts", we might as well act like them'.

'How will we be able to see each other if we're all invisible?' Desric asked.

Seith smiled. 'I'll show you how it works.'

**0000000000**

As _Blackjack_ went into hyperspace, Seith showed them all how to control their own personal cloaking technology. Essentially, by pressing a button on their wrist gauntlets, anyone wearing the Mandalorian battlesuits Seith had made would turn completely invisible, through the suit photographing everything around them. While the outline of the person still showed, they would be completely inconspicuous unless somebody with especially sharp eyes was looking for them. For a while, they messed around with the suits, taking the helmets off so it appeared that only their heads were floating around. Then Ben instructed everybody to get some sleep. It would take a day to get to Twon Ketee, and it wouldn't do to spy on the First Order while they were tired. While everyone bunked up, Ben sat in the cockpit looking out at the everlasting blue-and-white of hyperspace, his feet up on the dashboard. Then he heard a rustle behind him, and was surprised to see Kara climbing up to sit beside him.

'Are you okay?', he asked.

'Yeah, just… nervous.' Kara said, looking down.

'Me too', Ben admitted.

'I thought I was the only one', Kara laughed, quite obviously with relief.

There was silence between them for a moment. Ben had absolutely no idea what to say. This was actually the first time he'd ever been able to talk to Kara without at least one of their teammates around, and he secretly wished that he'd had more time alone with her. After all, there was no guarantee either one of them would come back alive from this mission, and Ben would probably kick himself for the rest of his life if he squandered any shot he had with Kara. Yet somehow, although he'd had the courage to go out into the galaxy alone, to make a stand and kill the Knights of Ren, Ben found himself completely terrified at the mere thought of asking Kara out. Fortunately, Kara was braver than him in this regard.

'I really hope we survive this mission', Kara said quietly. 'Because… because…'

'Because…'

'Because if we do, I'd… like to ask you out', Kara said, her face turning almost as red as her hair.

Ben was struck dumb. Kara… asking him out? Was it at all possible that she wanted to be with him the same way he wanted to be with her?

He tried to form a coherent thought, but all that came out was 'uuuhhhhh…'

Kara mistook Ben's reaction for him trying to figure out how to say no. 'It's okay if you don't want to', she stammered out. 'It's just that… well, I like you, and I thought you liked me too-'

'I do like you', Ben suddenly interrupted.

Kara stopped. 'You… do?'

'Yes', Ben managed to say. 'It's just… I've never… um…'

Kara suddenly realised. 'Been in a relationship before?' she gently prompted.

'Yeah', Ben managed to say. 'How about you?'

Kara shrugged, her nervousness beginning to disappear. 'Here and there, never really anything serious, but… not for a while, and I've never had to be the one to do the asking.'

Ben suddenly felt embarrassed for being too scared to make the first move.

'It's okay', Kara said, noticing his embarrassment. 'It's just… well…'

'Well what?'

'I just thought that with you being a Skywalker, the girls would be trying to climb all over you', Kara suddenly blurted out.

Ben couldn't help but laugh. 'You'd be surprised. Most of the girls my own age that I've met tended to go in the opposite direction whenever I came close to them.'

'Why's that?' Kara frowned.

'Probably because I AM a Skywalker', Ben said. 'It may mean I'm Luke Skywalker's son, but it also means I'm Darth Vader's grandson. And those other girls, they were all my father's apprentices, so….'

'So they knew more or less exactly what you were capable of', Kara finished for him.

'Yeah.'

'We are not our families, Ben. Remember, gar taldin ni jaonyc, gar sa buir, ori'wadass'la.'

Ben remembered the old Mandalorian saying. _Nobody cares who your parents are, only the parent you will be._ It basically meant that Ben would be judged more by his role as a father than as his father's son.

'I know I am not my father. It's just… so many people don't see it that way.'

There was a pause, then, as they gazed at each other. Ben could sense Kara was conflicted about something. Then she came to him, and he realised what it was as she cupped his face and her lips closed over his. Ben was so taken aback by Kara's boldness that he couldn't do anything except sit there and enjoy the simple sweetness of Kara kissing him. Then before he knew it, it was over and Kara was smiling at him.

' _I_ see it that way', she whispered as she left the cockpit.

Ben gazed after her, unable to stop the huge grin spreading across his face.

**00000000000**

_Blackjack_ dropped out of hyperspace, and the Ghosts got their first official look at Twon Ketee. Ben had to admit, it looked even more like a toxic swamp than the holograms had made it look. As they drew even closer, they noticed the Star Destroyer positioned above the planet, with a steady line of what looked like cargo ships going to and from the planet. Ben swallowed hard. After over a year of training, it seemed so odd that the real performance was about to begin only now.

'So, Boba was right. The First Order _is_ taking something from the planet. But what?' Ishi mused.

'That's what we're here to find out. Turning on cloaking device now', Ben replied to his sister, as he activated the camouflage Seith had implemented. Nothing appeared to happen on the inside of the U-Wing, but as far as anyone outside it was concerned, there was nothing there.

'Alright, I'm bringing us down to the surface', Ben announced as he flew _Blackjack_ closer to Twon Ketee. As they drew closer, Kara, as the co-pilot, activated the ship's scanners to find a safe place to land, and quickly identified a spot where _Blackjack_ could remain without any danger of sinking into the planet's swamp-like surface. Ben brought the ship down, and without a word, all of them, with the exception of Seith, changed into their armour. Ben was particularly proud of his own. It truly was beautiful; in the same way some man-eating predators were beautiful.

As they all finished changing, Ben realised the others had gone quiet, and he turned around to see them all looking at him. He realised they were probably waiting for an inspirational speech.

'Um…' Ben began.

_Good start, nimrod_ , he thought.

'I know you're all nervous. Believe me, I am too. We have every right to be so. But I didn't spend the last year training as a team with you guys only to fail on our first real day. Our first real day as soldiers.'

'We have all been different things before', Ben went on. He was making it up as he went along, but it felt like he was on the right track. 'Bodyguards', he began, motioning towards Kara and Tyzen. 'Thieves', he said, looking at Desric and Beti. 'We have all been different things before, but today… today we are soldiers. And we have a job to do. So let's go do it.'

Everyone nodded, all of them looking more confident. As the air outside was toxic, all of them had to be in full combat gear, the helmets of which contained up to two hours of oxygen. Seith, who would keep the engine running in the event of a hasty exit, had been provided with a simple gas mask. All of the others put their helmets on and activated the camouflage mode. Although the Ghosts, true to their name, would be invisible to the naked eye while under the camouflage, the sensors on their helmets would allow them to see the bare outline of each other. Ben instructed Seith to open the cargo doors, and the first mission of the Ghosts officially began as they stepped out onto Twon Ketee's surface. The first step into the sludge went all the way past Ben's ankles, and although there was no way it could get through his armour, merely feeling it was enough to creep him out.

'Scanners say there is a large number of humanoid organisms one click east of here, just through that forest', Beti said.

Ben saw it too on his own scanners. 'Then I guess we're heading east', he said, and the five figures he saw through his helmet fell in line behind him as they entered the swamp-forest, guns up in case of a sudden attack. As the group slowly trudged through Twon Ketee's environment, the scanners in their helmets worked to identify the best possible paths for them. The scanners were able to pick up how deep innocent-looking puddles of sludge really were, what manner of poisonous creatures lingered underneath them, and so on. All signs of life the Ghosts encountered in the first few minutes of their trek were no bigger than rats, but from what they had read up on Twon Ketee, there were much larger predators around which, just like everything else on Twon Ketee, were highly poisonous.

'I just hope we don't meet a rathtar', Desric said, swallowing nervously.

'Don't jinx it', Beti scolded her twin.

Ben was hoping for the same thing. He had learned about the huge, slug-like creatures (whose poison was placed in their many tentacles) which were native to Twon Ketee while studying up on the planet. The armour-like shells they also possessed were resistant to blaster bolts, and while Ben could probably crush them using the Force in a one-on-one duel, he didn't fancy his chances against a pack of rathtars. And rathtars tended to hunt in packs. Ben was just dwelling on this when the group heard a bloodcurdling roar come from somewhere very close by. Specifically, a clearing up ahead, which, Ben noticed, was where their scanners were also picking up the large number of humanoid life forms.

'Oh, shit', Kara said, as she noticed it too.

'Stay close together', Ben ordered, as the six of them jogged towards the sound. As they reached the clearing, they were greatly surprised by what they saw: around two dozen stormtroopers surrounding what was unmistakably a rathtar. They didn't look anything like the stormtroopers Ben had seen in documentaries of the Galactic Civil War, though. These stormtroopers were dressed in armour the same colour as the murky terrain around them, and their helmets visibly displayed breathing tubes. As the Ghosts watched, the rathtar quickly reached out with its tentacles and snared a trooper. As it dragged the screaming human towards its gaping maw, three other camouflaged troopers snuck up behind it and stuck what looked like black truncheons into its back. Ben heard the crackle of electricity as the rathtar screamed in pain and dropped the trooper it had been about to eat. Waving around its tentacles, the lone rathtar, one of the galaxy's most dangerous predators, was caught off-guard as the other troopers opened fire with a barrage of stun bolts. The beast collapsed into the mud, motionless. The fight had begun and then ended so quickly, the Ghosts could hardly believe it had happened. One of the stormtroopers lifted his comlink up to his mouth.

'Command to base, we've just caught another one. Bring the transport to these coordinates.'

As the commander spoke the coordinates of their position into his comlink, Ben motioned to the others to listen to what he had to say.

'Okay, so we know now they're taking rathtars. But we still don't know why.'

'Whatever it is, it can't be good', Tyzen said.

'I agree', Ishi said. 'I say we blow whatever transport is coming to hell.'

'No', Ben replied. 'At least, not yet. I'll place a tracker on the transport that's coming for the rathtar, then we'll go back to _Blackjack_ , and find out where the First Order is taking the Rathtars. Once we do, we storm the place, and find out why they are taking the rathtars. After that, I have… an idea about how we may stop production.'

'Can you tell us your idea now?' Ishi asked.

'No.'

'Why not?'

'Because I haven't had it yet.'

Even behind her helmet, Ben could tell Ishi was rolling her eyes.

Then, as the stormtroopers began to vacate the area, the transport ship appeared and began dragging the unconscious rathtar up in a tractor beam. The stormtroopers were so busy vacating the area, they never noticed the fingernail-sized tracker floating upwards, as if by magic, and attaching itself to the side of the transport ship.

**0000000000**

One they arrived back at _Blackjack_ , the Ghosts gathered round to watch where the rathtars were being taken. Apparently, the transport ship stopped at a place about twenty kilometres from their current position. Ben instructed Seith to fly there, still with camouflage mode activated. Once they arrived, the team saw that there appeared to be a kind of base set up on the surface, where the cargo ships were docking.

'Why take them there instead of going straight up to the Star Destroyer?' Desric asked.

'Probably for further sedation, and to be locked up in a more secure location, like a cage', Ben answered.

'Why take them alive?' Kara asked.

'Well', Ben replied, 'from what I read up on rathtars, they actually decompose pretty quickly. Roughly, only about a week for them to turn to dust.'

Seith landed the ship at a distance from the facility, and when night fell, Ben instructed him to hover the ship above the compound.

'To avoid detection from any ground scanners they may have, we'll approach them from the air', he told everyone. 'Tyzen, you okay?'

Tyzen looked a little green, as he always did, at the mere idea of jumping out into open air, but he nodded. Seith opened the doors, and one by one, Ben leading the way, they all jumped out. Boba had instructed them how to bypass any aerial scanners through freefalling. Also, the fact that the Ghosts were invisible to the naked eye didn't hurt either. As they reached the roof of the facility, they all activated their jetpacks, and slowly came to a stop.

'What's the plan now, boss?' Beti asked.

'We find whoever's in charge of this place, make him tell us everything about what's going on here, then figure out the best way to turn this situation to our advantage.'

'How will we find out who's in charge?' Kara asked.

'Simple. I figure the people in charge of this operation will probably be in offices on the top floor- which we are currently above. Switch scanners to x-ray.'

The Ghosts immediately complied, and from the view of their helmets, the area below them was revealed. From the way it looked, right now they were right on top of an office. Clearly the office of somebody in a position of command, but it wasn't nearly big enough to be where someone at the very head of an operation like this would be working. Ben instructed everyone to split up, and scan the whole top floor. Sure enough, after a minute or two Ishi reported back that she was right on top of an office around ten times the size of the one they'd originally landed above. And best of all, it looked like the boss was in at his desk.

**0000000000**

Lieutenant Commander Marcus Gillette, recently assigned to the godforsaken wasteland known as Twon Ketee, couldn't wait to get off this world. He was utterly fed up with reports coming in of his men being eaten, of them having their limbs ripped off, or, worst of all, of them flatly refusing to go back out again after having encountered rathtars or any other of the literally thousands of animals -all of which were poisonous- that inhabited this disgusting place. Gillette couldn't say he blamed them, and he admired the bravery of those who stuck it out and didn't complain, but the fact was, it would be all of their necks on the chopping block if they failed in their task. And as commanding officer, Gillette knew his neck would be the first one there. Rathtars tended to hunt in packs, and the first time he'd sent out a hunting party, Gillette had ordered them to bring back as many as they could. He'd sent fifty troops out, just to make sure. Approximately three came back, mortally wounded, and just before they'd all succumbed to their injuries, they'd managed to choke out how utterly impossible it was to bring back multiple rathtars.

Ever since then, Gillette had been more careful, instructing his hunters to only engage lone rathtars, separated from their packs. This approach had been marginally more successful, but much slower than Gillette would have liked. _At least the work will be over soon_ , he mused. Then he heard a noise coming from directly above him. Gillette looked up, and was shocked to see what appeared to be a bright white light cutting a circle in the ceiling. The First Order officer was about to reach for the button to call security when all of a sudden, his body froze back into the chair. Gillette was terrified. _What in the world is going on?_ he thought as a strange creature dressed in black-and-red armour dropped through the hole it had just cut in the ceiling, switching off the blowtorch on its wrist gauntlet it had used as it reached out a hand to Gillette's face. Then Gillette felt like fingers were probing into his brain, and his fear was suddenly quelled and replaced by… nothing.

**00000000000**

Ben gazed at the officer before him. It was one thing to read about your enemy and study them, but to actually _look them in the face_ was… interesting. But Ben had no time to dwell on this, so he concentrated on pulling the answers he wanted out of the brain of the man before him, drawing on both sides of the Force.

'Why are you taking rathtars from this planet?'

'I was told by my superiors that the armour on those creatures is resistant to blaster bolts. The Supreme Leader is interested in seeing if the effects can be replicated for stormtrooper armour.'

_That would cause the Resistance all sorts of grief_ , Ben thought. _Well, we can't have that._

'Where are you taking the rathtars?'

'To Trillia.'

Ben thought it over. _Trillia?_ He couldn't remember having ever heard of a planet with that name before. There were more questions he needed to ask, and the answers that the man before him had would be vital to this missions' success.

'What is Trillia?'

'A desert planet in the Outer Rim.'

'How would the Rathtars survive a desert environment?'

'They wouldn't, but the planet is not where they are being taken. They will be taken to a facility the First Order has set up in Trillia's orbit for research and experiments. The idea is, if any of the Rathtars got loose in the facility, they would not survive breaking out.'

'Do you have a hologram of this facility?'

In a robot-like manner, the officer pulled out a datapad, and, after activating it, presented an image of a space station to Ben. Judging by the docking ports, which were clearly meant to hold Star Destroyers, Ben estimated that the station was probably several dozen kilometres in length and width.

'Are there any other places these Rathtars are being taken?'

'No. My superiors said it was important that knowledge of the work being undertaken could not spread. Our enemies may find a way to take advantage of it.'

_Afraid that's already happening_ , Ben thought, unable to stop himself smiling.

'Very well then', he said. 'Now, what is your name?'

'Marcus Gillette.'

'Well, Officer Gillette, I have some new orders for you. You will listen carefully to what I have to say.'

'I will listen carefully to what you have to say', Gillette repeated back, as Ben's mind trick began to take effect.

'You will complete the capture and shipping of the rathtars.'

'I will complete the capture and shipping of the rathtars.'

'You will bring them to the station above Trillia, as instructed.'

'I will bring them to the station above Trillia, as instructed.'

'And once the rathtars have gotten where they need to go, you will let all of them loose within the facility.'

'And once the rathtars have gotten where they need to go, I will let all of them loose within the facility.'

'You will also destroy any and all information the First Order has already gathered on the Resistance contained in the facility.'

'I will also destroy any and all information the First Order has already gathered on the Resistance contained in the facility.'

Ben began to say his final command. He didn't like it, but Boba had said to leave no loose ends, and he was a man who knew what he was doing.

'In the event of your capture, you will not let yourself be taken alive.'

'In the event of my capture, I will not let myself be taken alive.'

'Now, how much longer do you expect it will take before your work here is done?'

'Within a week, at most. I was ordered to bring back a hundred rathtars, and my men brought the ninety-second back today.'

_Good_ , Ben thought. He had a second plan in mind.

**00000000000**

As _Blackjack_ dropped out of hyperspace, Ben couldn't help but feel smug as the overwhelming success of the mission. After he had finished mind-probing and tricking the commander of the rathtar-catching facility, he and the other Ghosts had spent the rest of the night planting timed detonators on the fuel cells that were being used to power the base. By Seith's calculations, they would take about two weeks to go off, plenty of time for the First Order to finish their mission and evacuate the base. That way, once the rathtars were let loose aboard Trillia's orbiting station, the base would be more or less completely destroyed, and the First Order would be unable to figure out why one of their own had turned on them in such a spectacular fashion.

As Ben finished his mission report to Bo-Katan, Boba and Kalani, he was able to sense something from the three of them. Something like… awe.

'Even after all I observed of you, after all I thought, I underestimated your skills for strategic warfare', Boba breathed. Then he smiled. 'I can see why my daughter likes you.'

Ben couldn't stop the blush creeping across his cheeks. In all the excitement of his success, he'd quite forgotten about Kara kissing him. After the briefing, he went to her room, and knocked on the door.

'Come in', he heard Kara call out. As Ben entered, he noticed Kara looking at him, not with awe, but with something like… tenderness. Ben found himself suddenly realising he hadn't even prepared what he was going to say.

'Um… I… that is… we…'

But Kara had already placed her arms around his neck and looked at Ben, her soft grey eyes meeting his deep-green.

'Don't worry', she whispered, as her lips slowly moved towards his, 'there's more than one way to say something to someone. Let me show you the best way of all.'

As their clothes slowly came off, Ben could hardly believe this was happening to him. When they stood before each other, completely bare, he finally realised why the old Jedi had forbidden all forms of romantic attachment. Because seeing Kara, one of the few genuinely kind, loving souls Ben had encountered in his life, naked for the first time, created a feeling Ben would have abandoned being a Jedi for. As they fell onto Kara's bed, the sheets drawn around them, Ben felt the most exquisite pleasure of his life as he entered Kara, and the soft cries she made while they began a rhythm that felt comfortable to them both were the sweetest, most beautiful sounds Ben had ever heard. As they finished, Ben curling Kara into his arms, he felt something he hadn't really felt since Jacen's betrayal had torn his family apart.

Happiness.

**0000000000**

Snoke rubbed his temples as he sat in his throne room. Once news of what was now being referred to as the Trillia Massacre had reached him, he had been racking his brains as to what could possibly have lead Lieutenant Commander Marcus Gillette to let one hundred rathtars loose on Trillia Station. After having brought up his records, Snoke had been surprised to see Gillette had been named by his superiors as being amongst the most promising candidates to one day make the rank of General. What could have made him do it? Once Gillette had let the rathtars loose, the beasts had rampaged throughout the station. Everyone there had been caught completely off-guard, and according to reports, by the time the hundredth rathtar lay dead, a collection of over three thousand officers and troopers alike had been killed, and many more were in a critical condition. 

Even worse, it appeared the traitorous Gillette had, before blowing his brains out as his own men tried to apprehend him, managed to wipe all data from Trillia Station that related to Leia Organa's Resistance. And when Snoke had sent troops to inspect Gillette's station on Twon Ketee, the base had been found a smoking ruin, almost definitely the work of detonators. Had Gillette been working for the Resistance all this time? Was Leia perhaps the Skywalker who posed the biggest threat to Snoke's rule? After all, there was still no sign of Luke or his wretched son. But what would Leia have said to convince someone to be a martyr to her cause?

_The woman may be more like her father than I anticipated_ , Snoke thought. The thought was… alarming. All in all, Snoke had more questions than answers right now. And he was determined to answer those questions. He would find whoever was responsible for Gillette's actions, and he would make them _suffer_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. In case you're wondering what the current year is as of this chapter, it's 29 ABY, so around four-and-a-bit years before The Force Awakens. We'll get there soon, don't worry. Oh, and I'm currently picturing Kara as looking like Maggie Geha from Gotham. Also, please leave some reviews. I'm really eager to know what you think.


	10. Discovery and loss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is roughly more than twice the size of all the other chapters I have published, because this chapter is probably the most important one to the story so far. I hope you guys like it!

Time passed. Years. True to Bo-Katan's word, the Ghosts performed mission after mission in the name of rebellion against the First Order. Espionage, sabotage, extraction and assassination- it soon became all that Ben knew. The idea of leading a team of great warriors in the name of fighting evil had once seemed like an impossible dream come true. Now, though, approximately three years after his first mission as a Ghost, Ben saw it was more of a nightmare. A nightmare without end.

As Ben lay in his bed on Concordia one night, Kara sleeping peacefully behind him, he wondered how many people he had killed now. Officers. Soldiers. Even lowly technicians. There was no area of the First Order which had escaped the fury of the Ghosts. Mostly they blew people up with Seith's bombs, or Kara shot them from a safe distance, but every so often they had to capture someone for information. The looks of confident superiority on the faces of those people always changed to terror when Ben started digging around in their minds. And he had started getting more aggressive with his job as a Ghost, lately. All the Ghosts were, to be honest. Ben remembered the elation of victory they'd all felt when the plan to set the rathtars loose on Trillia Station had gone off without a hitch. Now when he and the others saw the success of their endeavours on the HoloNet, they simply started the next job.

The Republic had condemned them as terrorists. Not that the Republic had any idea the Ghosts existed, but every single time Ben saw the results of his work on the HoloNet, the headline always involved the word "terrorists" in some way:

"Terrorists bomb Phantom Labs" (actually a secret training facility for First Order stormtroopers).

"Terrorists assassinate Senator Veradun" (a First Order sympathiser who'd been leaking information to them).

"Terrorists make illegal jailbreak" (for members of the Resistance who never saw their faces or heard their voices, owing to the fact that Ben always used the Force to make them faint first).

And so on, and so on. More often than not, the actions of the Ghosts were compared to those of Saw Gerrera, a rebel extremist during the days of the Empire.

Despite all this, it seemed that no matter how much of the First Order the Ghosts had destroyed- Ben imagined that by now they were responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, mostly due to Seith's bombs- the First Order appeared, by all accounts, to be just as powerful as it had before the Trillia Massacre.

It was without end. And Ben wanted it to end. He wanted to get out of this war, take Kara and go somewhere nobody would recognise them. But he knew Kara would never agree to it. Even though she actually did not have a drop of Mandalorian blood in her veins, Kara was the best shot, and by far the most passionate soldier of Ben's team. During the course of their three years together, Kara told him that Boba had found her as an orphan on the planet Christophsis, where he'd caught her trying to pick his pocket. When Boba had left for Mandalore in an attempt to "find himself", as he called it, he'd taken Kara with him, and taught her how to fight when Bo-Katan had hired him to train the Protectors. Ever since then, Kara had considered herself to be as Mandalorian as the rest of them. And unfortunately, Mandalorians had the annoying habit of never ceasing to fight in a war unless they were dead or their leader surrendered. It remained the one bit of friction between what was otherwise a very beautiful relationship. Ben and Kara both had relatively the same tastes in food, they both liked the same television programs, and they never failed to make each other laugh when one of them was upset. But Ben's favourite was when they were alone together, cuddling in bed, with nobody else around them which meant he had Kara all to himself to talk to, to make love to, to just… _be_ with.

They had already agreed to get married, much to Ben's ecstasy. It had actually been on the rooftop of the old Rebel base in Yavin 4, about two years after their relationship began, when they had been sent to see if they could recover any data on the Alliance. Once Ben had gone down on his knee and produced the ring Bo-Katan gave him with her permission, Kara, joyful tears pouring down her face, had accepted his proposal. Then she'd thrown herself at him and they'd made passionate love right there on the roof of the base. Unfortunately, Kara's acceptance had come with a condition: she wanted to get married without the stress of having to do so in between missions. Which meant she would only marry Ben when there were no more missions. Which would only happen if there was no more war with the First Order. Ever since then, Ben had desperately been looking for ways in which they could end the war, but according to Leia, the Republic seemed just as resistant as it had always been in lending any hand, and just as stubborn that the First Order posed no real threat.

Ben's aunt was the only member of his father's family he had seen at all over the last few years. Jacen was of course busy being Kylo Ren. Han was busy smuggling. And Luke was… nowhere. The only clue he'd left behind was that he'd gone to the first Jedi Temple. And Ben had absolutely no idea where that was. On one of the few breaks he'd had from being leader of the Ghosts, he'd gone back to Tython. After paying his respects to Ahsoka, he'd ransacked the Temple, and come up with absolutely nothing on where the Jedi had gone after they first formed out of the Je'daii. Ben had called out for Ketu, but his Force-ghost of a master was nowhere to be seen. Ben had left Tython with nothing but the Force-blocking shackles Ahsoka had once used on him. They could very well come in handy if he ran into Jacen again.

Bo-Katan had sent people to the Jedi Temples on other planets, but Luke was nowhere to be found. She had even sent people to known locations of Sith Temples, but once again, the buildings were Luke Skywalker-less. All they'd been able to bring back from the Temples were old artefacts. Books, statues, even the occasional lightsaber and the robe of the Jedi or Sith who'd wielded it. Ben enjoyed reading the books, most of which were thousands of years old and preserved by the Force, and told of the ways ancient Jedi and Sith had fought in the past. The fact that even ancient books could tell of conflict amongst Force-wielders only strengthened Ben's resolve to one day bring balance back to the Force through re-establishing the path of the Je'daii. But first, he had to destroy the First Order. With that in mind, Ben went to sleep, and tried to dream of a future where the galaxy was at peace and his family wasn't torn apart.

**0000000000**

'Mustafar', Boba began, as the Ghosts settled in the briefing room for what would be their fifty-seventh mission. They gazed at the hologram of the planet, which appeared to be completely covered in volcanoes. _Active_ volcanoes by the look of it, seeing as much of the planet was covered in lava.

Boba adjusted the hologram so it zoomed in on a stronghold on the planet's surface that was shaped like a monolith. 'During the time of the Galactic Civil War, this place served as Darth Vader's personal abode. When I was Vader's assassin, I met with him many times in this place. Your mission is to go through this castle and see if anything is left behind which may help us against the First Order.'

Ben was very doubtful the First Order wouldn't have plundered Darth Vader's home by now. After all, Kylo Ren probably idolised their grandfather for what he had accomplished during his time as a Sith Lord. But it would have been unhelpful to point this out, so Ben kept his mouth shut and followed the others through to _Blackjack_.

**0000000000**

_Blackjack_ dropped out of hyperspace, and the Ghosts got their first look at Mustafar up close. For a planet, it looked positively… evil. Ben was only slightly surprised to feel the pull of the dark side from it. It appeared that like Tython and its moons, Mustafar was a planet strong with the Force.

'Okay, coming in to land', Seith announced as they drew closer to the platform outside Darth Vader's castle. The others pulled their gear on, and marched outside. Even through his armour, Ben felt Mustafar's humidity hit him like a slap. No, that was an understatement. The sheer heat of the planet hit him like a wave that covered his entire body, and underneath his helmet, Ben felt beads of sweat already forming on his head. He also felt like he was cooking inside his armour.

'Permission to take our helmets off, Commander?' Ishi asked her brother, clearly feeling the heat too.

'Permission granted', said Ben, and they all pulled them off. There was a brief moment of respite, then they started feeling the heat again. It was not unbearable, but Ben wanted to get out of it as soon as possible, and he didn't need the Force to tell him the others felt the same way. Not even bothering to see if the monolith's doors were locked, Ben reached out with the Force and they slid open. The others rushed inside, and Ben quickly shut the door. Fortunately, it was slightly cooler within the monolith, but Ben couldn't see any switch to turn the lights on.

'Night vision', he said. Putting their helmets back on, the Ghosts activated the setting, and it was immediately as though the room was bathed in light to them. As they moved throughout the castle, Ben realised he had been right to assume the First Order had been here before. The place had clearly been searched. And searched _badly_ at that. Shelves had been knocked over, books had been torn apart. But worst of all was the deep grooves that had been cut into one of the walls. Grooves that looked like they'd been made with-

'A lightsaber', Beti said, gingerly touching the marks. 'It was, wasn't it, boss?'

Ben nodded. The burn marks that surrounded the clear-cut lines gave it away.

'What do you think happened here?' Tyzen asked.

'I'd say that whoever was here before us didn't find what they were looking for, and they threw a big temper tantrum over it', Desric said.

'You think it was Ren?' Kara quietly asked her fiancé.

Ben nodded again. There had been no further additions to the Knights of Ren as far as he knew, so Kylo was the only logical explanation. The Ghosts were among the few people who knew the true identity of Kylo Ren, but rarely mentioned him around their leader, because they knew he didn't like talking about his cousin. Ben appreciated them for it.

It was obvious that Kylo had taken everything he saw as useful and destroyed everything he didn't, so there was really no point in sticking around any longer. Then, just as Ben was about to tell everyone they were going back, he heard something.

A song.

Not one with the pleasant melodies which came from objects infused with the light side, but one with the harsh, screeching tone which came from those infused with the dark. Reaching out with the Force, Ben tried to pinpoint the song's source, and came up with nothing, but he sensed that it was somehow below him. A dark sense of foreboding came upon him, and he realised that whatever it was, it was probably dangerous, and if Vader had brought it here, it was probably even more dangerous to those uneducated in the dark side. Ben turned to his team.

'You guys head back to the ship, I'm going to look around some more, see if there's anything else.'

'What, why just you-' Desric began.

' _Now'_ , Ben said. He used the tone that the Ghosts knew meant he wasn't messing around, so they all began to walk out. Kara turned to Ben.

'Are you okay?', she asked gently.

'I'm fine, it's just… it's just a Force thing.'

Kara nodded. She knew, better than most, that she would never truly understand the connection a force-sensitive had with the Force, so she briefly squeezed Ben's hand in comfort and followed the others to the exit. As she did, Ben removed his helmet, sat in the darkness, and began to focus on once again finding the song. It was below him, but Ben couldn't sense, let alone see, any doors of anything else which might lead downstairs. Then a thought came to him, and he focused on finding out if there was any was to open up the floor with the Force. Sure enough, a chunk of the floor instantly rose up, revealing a room underneath that was lit with a pale light.

Ben put his helmet back on, jumped down, and took note of his surroundings. The only structure in the room was a pedestal. And on that pedestal was a mask. It looked like the top half of a skull, bone-white with red stripes over each eyehole. It was practically screaming with the power of the dark side.

Ben was initially confused as to how Kylo Ren had been unable to sense the mask when he had been here before. Then he saw that there was something wrapped around the mask. A necklace, with a pendant attached to it. The pendant stirred something in Ben's memory. Then it clicked, and he understood. The pendant was identical to the skin of the Taozin centipedes Ben had encountered on Tython. Ben remembered Ketu's lesson, which seemed like a lifetime ago now, that anyone who wore a pendant made of Taozin skin would be able to cloak themselves from force-sensitives as the creatures themselves were. There was no reason to think it didn't apply to objects as well. And Ben remembered what else Ketu had taught him; that a force-sensitive who studied both sides of the Force would be immune to the effects of Taozin amulets. Which explained why Ben had been able to sense the mask that the amulet covered, where Kylo Ren had not. When Vader brought the mask here, he must have not wanted to risk any Jedi or Sith discovering it. But why had he hidden the mask in such a cunning way?

Ben reached out a hand to take the mask. He remembered all the times that Luke told him to never, ever, under any circumstance, touch objects infused with the dark side without at least having someone else present. Then he remembered Ahsoka and Ketu telling him the same. But he couldn't help himself- the temptation was simply too great. Ben reached out his hand to grab the mask, and the moment his hand closed around it, he realised the grave mistake he had made. But it was too late. There was a

_**BOOM** _

and Ben was thrown back as the mask let out a shockwave of dark side energy and reduced Darth Vader's once-proud stronghold to a pile of rubble.

**00000000000**

Had it not been for the beskar suits they wore, the remaining Ghosts would probably have been obliterated when the shockwave reached them outside Vader's castle as they walked to their ship. As it were, they were simply knocked unconscious when the stronghold blew apart. Seith wore no suit, but the doors of _Blackjack_ were closed off from the blast, so he only fell unconscious as well.

**000000000000**

On Takodana, Maz felt the disturbance in the Force. When she closed her eyes, she saw a burning planet, and she felt the raw fury of the dark side. But worst of all, she saw Ben Skywalker at the centre of it, and she feared the worst.

**000000000000**

Leia felt a sudden jerk go through her body as she felt the explosion. She felt Ben's sudden shock as well. _What have you done, Ben? What have you done?_

**000000000000**

Luke dropped what he was carrying as his body shuddered with the pulse of dark side energy. What on earth? He'd closed himself off from the Force years ago. How was this even possible? Nothing else happened, so he merely grumbled, picked up what he'd dropped, and kept on walking. Had he not closed himself off from the Force, he would have felt his son's fear and pain.

**000000000000**

'Urghhhh', Snoke said as he gripped his malformed head. For the first time in years, he'd felt the presence of Ben Skywalker. And he'd sensed the darkness surrounding the boy. But that was impossible. The Skywalker boy couldn't be here, on Snoke's ship, with the power of the Sith at his command. Snoke knew the boy was a Grey Jedi, but this darkness… this was something else. Something ancient. Snoke concentrated, and realised where the darkness was coming from. Mustafar. The castle where Darth Vader had once resided. The boy must have discovered something, something that Kylo Ren had been unable to discover when Snoke sent him there, years ago. Whatever it was, Snoke sensed the darkness was a danger to his reign. This needed to be shut down. _Now._

**00000000000**

Kylo Ren awoke in a cold sweat. No. _No._ He'd felt the surge of dark power from Mustafar, and saw Ben Skywalker in the middle of it. Somehow, he'd discovered what Kylo had failed to. Kylo remembered searching every nook and cranny of his grandfather's castle, clearing it of artefacts but at the same time, sensing that he was missing something. Eventually, he'd taken out his frustration on one of the walls, then left the place behind and never thought about it again. Until now. Kylo's holoprojector beeped with an incoming call, and the Supreme Leader appeared.

'Did you feel it too?' he growled.

Kylo nodded.

'Good. Go to Mustafar. Take a Star Destroyer, and bring every trooper on board to the planet. Destroy Ben Skywalker… then tell me how he managed to find what you did not.'

**0000000000**

Ben wasn't entirely sure was had happened. One moment, he'd been holding the mask, the next it was like he'd been shunted away into a different place altogether. A cave to be precise, glowing with a strange light. Then Ben realised he was not alone as a voice called out.

'Who are you?' it asked in a deep, rumbling tone. It wasn't speaking in Basic, or Mando'a or any of the other languages Ben knew, yet somehow he understood it. Strange. Strange indeed.

'Why do you want to know?', Ben replied. When he'd begun training with the other Ghosts, Bo-Katan had told him to never divulge who he really was to anyone who didn't already know. There was no telling who may be a First Order sympathiser.

'Just curious,' the voice replied. 'It has been a long time since I have encountered anyone. A long time I have been locked away.'

As the voice spoke, its owner stepped into the light. A tall, humanoid figure, easily two metres in height, towered over Ben. It was dressed from head-to-toe in black robes, complete with a hood. But underneath the hood, it was wearing the bone-white mask Ben had touched.

'Where am I?' Ben asked.

'A place between life and death', the creature replied.

'What does that mean? And who are you, anyway?'

'I asked you first', the creature stated, its tone changing to a sing-song voice.

'My name is Ben Skywalker', Ben replied. He could sense the darkness coming off this thing, but he could also tell it was a very ancient darkness. There wasn't much chance it even knew what the First Order was.

'Ben Skywalker. My name is Darth Nihilus.'

Ben stiffened, unable to stop fear chilling his blood. Not much, but enough for the ancient Sith Lord to notice.

'Ah', Nihilus said, sounding satisfied. 'Does that name mean something to you, Ben Skywalker?'

It did indeed. According to the books Ben had read on ancient force-sensitives, the Sith Lord Darth Nihilus had lived roughly four thousand years ago, in a time where both Jedi and Sith numbered in the thousands. And amongst those thousands, Nihilus had stood at the very head of his Order. He was also responsible for one of the numerous Jedi purges that had taken place over the millennia. Countless Jedi, from Padawans to Knights to Masters alike, had gone up against this Sith Lord, and the books said he had cut literally hundreds of them down before he was finally struck down himself. But Ben didn't need to know all that to sense the power emanating from the Dark Lord before him. It was stronger than _anything_ he'd ever sensed in anyone else. Not even Luke or Jacen had been as strong as this. Which meant… where Ben had initially felt fear at the prospect of coming face-to-face with a living nightmare, he now sensed… opportunity.

Nihilus drew closer to Ben. 'You are an unusual creature indeed', the Dark Lord mused. 'In you, I sense that you are strong with the Force. _Both_ sides of it. Ah. I see now… you are one of the Grey?'

Ben nodded. 'How are you here?', he asked Nihilus. 'How… how am _I_ here? And where is here, anyway?'

'When my physical body decomposed, I bound my spirit inside my mask. You touched it, didn't you?'

Ben nodded.

'I suspect that when you did, your connection to the Force brought you here. As I said, you are in a place between life and death. Or your spirit is, anyway. I believe your body must still be in the place where you touched my mask.'

Nihilus paused, then continued. 'I also sense fear within you. Fear of me. Understandable. But I also sense… hope. Do you wish to become my apprentice?'

'Not exactly', Ben replied. 'There are these… these people. They wish to take over the galaxy, and bring everyone under their control. With power like yours… I could stop them.'

Nihilus was silent for a moment. 'I think we have a way to help each other,' he stated. 'Ever since the Jedi cut me down, I have rotted in this place. I was never able to become one with the Force because I was simply… too powerful to pass on. But, if I were to bestow my powers on you, I would finally know peace.'

The Ben Skywalker who existed before he began fighting the First Order would have harshly rejected accepting the powers of an ancient Sith Lord. But the Ben Skywalker who existed right now would have done anything if it meant ending the war and restoring peace to the galaxy. Ben knew, in his heart, that he was making a deal with the devil. But the temptation was simply too good to resist. 'I agree', he replied. 'So, what must I do to gain your power?'

'I'm afraid there is only one way that will ever happen', Nihilus stated, 'and that is if you were to put on my mask. It will transfer my powers to your body, and mix with your own. Any powers we share will likely be amplified. But there is a price.'

Ben had been expecting this. 'What price?'

'Your thirst for causing destruction will be _unquenchable_. But if you can resist it, over time the temptation will fade. However, I must warn you the pain of resisting may eat away at your soul to the point of madness.'

Ben swallowed. 'And if I give in?'

'The price you pay would be worse than death. For you would be completely and utterly consumed by the dark side, and you would arise as a Sith Lord. And with my power and your own combined, you would likely be the most powerful one to ever exist, destined to bring nothing but despair to the galaxy and its people. Nobody would be safe from your lust for power, not even those you consider your loved ones.'

'I would rather _die_ than hurt them', Ben snarled.

'Yes, the man you are would die in the process. The monster that remains, however, would be free to exact its wrath upon everything in its quest for victory in the eternal game of fighting against oneself…'

'I am not interested in games', Ben said. He felt his anger grow, and lightning flickered at the end of his fingers.

Nihilus simply laughed. It sounded like the croak of a dying man. 'Ah, but what better way to describe it? For fighting the darkness within yourself, young Skywalker, is the ultimate game- the one where the greatest of your enemies is not another person, but the one you see whenever you look in a mirror. In your story, the hero and villain are not two different people, but one and the same. The fate of the galaxy hinges upon the decision you must make now. But you must make haste. For even within this prison, I sense your enemies are drawing closer.'

'What?' Ben said, caught completely off-guard. He reached out with his mind, and sure enough, he sensed the presence of the First Order, and at their head- _Kylo Ren_.

'I have to get back to my body', he said.

'Of course', Nihilus said. 'But remember, once you wear the mask, there will be no turning back. Only moving forward. Towards freedom, or destruction.'

 _What have I gotten myself into?_ Ben thought, as he felt himself shift back to his body. He opened his eyes, and found himself sprawled backwards, the mask still on the pedestal in front of him, with the taozin amulet wrapped around it. He felt the presence of the First Order drawing closer, and he knew he had to get out of here right now. But first he had to make sure Kara and the others were okay, so he activated his comlink.

**0000000000**

Kara feebly stirred on the platform, and she heard the others around her do the same. What had happened? One moment she had been walking back with the others, the next she had been tossed forward like a ragdoll as the monolith behind them exploded with the force of a bomb. Then she'd felt something vibrating through her, and then… nothing but darkness. She slowly stood up, and looked around. The monolith was now a pile of rubble, and Kara could see that there was no longer any rivers of lava surrounding where they were. Which meant the explosion had somehow cooled the surface and caused it to harden. Despite the fact that her brain was currently swimming around in her head, Kara couldn't help but wonder what sort of explosion caused lava to cool.

'Ben!', she heard Ishi sob behind her as Ben's sister started running towards the rubble. Kara's disoriented brain suddenly remembered her fiancé had been inside the Temple at the time. Could he be… no, Kara decided firmly. Over the last three years, she had seen the man she loved do things she couldn't even fathom. She had seen him read and manipulate minds, stop blaster bolts in mid-air or catch them with his bare hands, and so many other things that defied logic. He was alive, Kara was sure of it, and she started to help Ishi dig through the rubble. She was sure he was alive, because if he wasn't… Kara didn't think her heart could bear it. Over the course of her life, the men she'd let into her heart had disappointed her over and over again. But not Ben. Never Ben. Kara swore to herself that if Ben was alive, she would take him back to Mandalore and marry him on the spot if that was what he wanted. The way she'd insisted on not getting married until the First Order was destroyed seemed silly now. They loved each other. How could Kara be so stupid as to let their enemies get in the way of that?

As the Ghosts dug tirelessly through the rubble, looking for their leader, they heard the unmistakable sound of a ship dropping out of hyperspace. As they looked up, Kara's heart sank as she saw the Star Destroyer. There was no choice. Ben or no Ben, they had to leave, or they would be caught by the First Order. And Kara remembered what Boba had told them about being caught. They had all sworn to activated the explosives inside them before allowing that to happen, and Kara knew Ben would much rather they lived to fight another day.

'Seith?' she contacted the ship. 'Are you alright?'

'Yeah', Seith said, sounding groggy.

'Prep _Blackjack_. We're leaving.'

'No!' Ishi cried out.

'We have no choice', Kara said. 'Do you think Ben would rather we all died? Get on the ship now. That's an order.'

Ishi glowered at the other woman, but there was no point in arguing. Ben had named Kara, not her, as his second-in-command. Which meant that with no Ben around, Kara was in charge of the Ghosts now. Tears running down her face, Ishi slowly walked back to the ship, when she felt her comlink beeping.

'Guys', Ben's voice rang out.

'Ben!', Ishi and Kara both said, their insides unknotting with relief. 'Are you okay? Are you hurt?' Ishi asked her brother. _Please, don't let this be goodbye_ , Ishi thought.

'I'm alright. Listen to me, I have a plan. You guys need to get back on the ship and wait in orbit. Activate camouflage mode so the First Order doesn't see or detect you. I'll dig myself out of the rubble and follow you. Okay?'

'You got it, boss', Kara replied. Gazing at the others, she said, 'you heard our commander. Let's go!'

**000000000**

Ben slowly stepped up to the mask and hesitantly reached out a hand to it. As his fingers closed over it, he flinched, but there was no explosion this time. Gingerly, he unwrapped the taozin amulet from the mask and put it in one of his pockets. Then, holding the mask, he reflected on what he was about to do. _Forgive me, Father, but I do not see any other way_. Ben took his helmet off, and pressed the skull-like mask to his face.

The moment the mask touched his skin, Ben felt like his face was exploding with white-hot agony, and he could not help but throw his head back and scream. Shadows crept out from beneath the mask, enveloping Ben's body, forming into long black robes. As the pain stopped, and Ben rose, he looked at his body, previously covered by Mandalorian beskar, now replaced with black cloth that felt like the dark side was practically vibrating through it. Also, he could no longer feel his jetpack, and the multi-setting blaster Seith had made for him had been replaced by the somewhat more familiar feel of a lightsaber. Ben removed the lightsaber from his hip, and looked through the mask at it. It was of the one-handed design, with simple-yet-elegant curves of metal wrapping around it, giving it the appearance of waves. Ben activated the lightsaber, and its crimson blade, the colour of the Sith, lit up the darkness. It was a beautiful colour, Ben had to admit. But there was no time to admire his new upgrade. His friends needed his help. Ben looked above him. The hole he'd come through was sealed off from the rubble of the upper floors. Ben reached out his hand, and the rubble began to shift.

**00000000**

Kylo Ren watched as the pilot brought his command shuttle down to Mustafar's surface, thirty Atmospheric Assault Landers around him. Originally, the plan had been to simply blast Darth Vader's monolith to rubble and trap the Skywalker boy inside, but it looked like that had already taken place, most likely as a result of the Force-enhanced blast. Then Kylo had seen the blast had hardened Mustafar's surface enough for troops to be put on the ground outside the castle. Kylo could sense the magma bubbling underneath the crust, but it wouldn't be resurfacing for a while. He could also sense the Skywalker boy was still alive, trapped under the rubble. A new plan had formed in Kylo's mind. He would pull the rubble off Skywalker, then send troops in to subdue him. Ben Skywalker was a warrior, that was certain, but even the greatest of warriors could be crushed beneath the weight of numbers. And once the stormtroopers had wounded and weakened Skywalker to the point of collapse, Kylo would strike the final blow himself, drag Skywalker's corpse back to the Supreme Leader, and his master would finally give Kylo the respect he deserved. These happy thoughts were swimming around in Kylo's mind when he felt something else. Another sudden disturbance in the Force, but one much subtler. Kylo still sensed Ben Skywalker, but it was like the boy's presence in the Force had somehow been… amplified.

'Land around the stronghold,' Kylo messaged the AAL's pilots. 'I want Skywalker surrounded'.

The pilots replied with a chorus of "yes sir" as they landed around the structure. Kylo gave the order to land his own shuttle a little further back. As he disembarked, he saw six hundred stormtroopers point their blasters at the fallen castle, awaiting his next command. Kylo was about to lift the rubble with the Force when the ground suddenly shook, and what looked like a dark shadow suddenly _flew_ from the rubble into the air.

**0000000**

Ben whooped as he flew up. He remembered that Darth Nihilus said he would gain additional powers, but actual _flight_? This was _awesome_. He stopped in mid-air, and looked down at the white-clad army of stormtroopers. But he didn't just see what was in front of him. He saw EVERYTHING.

For the first time ever, Ben understood the sheer beauty of the Force. It was like all this time, he'd been blindfolded, and now the blindfold had finally come off. Gazing upon a random stormtrooper, he could see the trooper was male, mid-twenties, and light-skinned. Even through the armour, Ben could see everything that made up the person inside it. Gazing to the next stormtrooper, and the next, and the next, Ben was instantly able to identify what gender they were, their age, even the planet from which they'd originally come. But he also saw something else. Inside each trooper was what looked like sparks, running up and down and all through their bodies. Sparks that thrummed with the Force. _So THAT's where the old saying "the Force flows through all living things" comes from_ , Ben thought. The Force really _did_ live in everyone, but not as a power. The Force was _energy_. Yet despite all he could see and feel, Ben didn't feel any kind of foreignness with his new abilities. He felt more complete. Like his bones had all been disjointed, and now, suddenly, for the first time in his life, they had been popped into place.

Ben was wondering at this revelation when the troopers began firing at him. Annoyed at them interrupting his thoughts, Ben instinctively waved his hand, and the blaster bolts coming at him disintegrated before they even got close. Ben could sense the shock of those below him, and as he looked past the stormtroopers, he saw Kylo Ren. Shock was emanating at him too, and as Ben gazed at the dark warrior which had once been his cousin, he saw, rather than felt, the darkness swirling within him.

Ben shifted his gaze back to the stormtroopers. _Let's test these new abilities out, shall we?_ Ben thought.

**0000000000**

Kara stared from _Blackjack_ as the dark shadow flew down into the sea of white armour. It started moving amongst the stormtroopers, swatting them aside and killing them like they were flies. The stormtroopers fired on it, but the blaster bolts were absorbed into the shadows, which suddenly took the form of a humanoid figure in a black cloak with what looked like a white face. It was Ben, Kara was certain of it. And while she knew he was strong with the Force, he couldn't possibly take down all those stormtroopers on his own. She turned to the others.

'He needs help', she cried. 'Seith, keep the ship running. The rest of you, with me!'

'We using camouflage mode?' Desric asked Kara.

'You seriously need to ask me that?'

**0000000000**

As Ben moved throughout the stormtroopers, he was caught off-guard by the barrage of blaster bolts, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that the cloak he was wearing allowed him to absorb them. In fact, not only could he absorb the plasma energy, he could redirect it as well. Ben waited until he felt the cloak was sufficiently "charged", then sent the plasma bolts back out, striking many stormtroopers down. As he did, he sensed his companions leaving their ship, and swooping down to help him.

 _No_ , Ben thought. _Go back, you fools. You'll get yourselves killed._

**0000000000**

'Incendiary', Kara yelled into her multi-setting blaster, as the Ghosts flying around her did the same. She wondered how the stormtroopers felt when the sky around them lit up with white phosphorus, seemingly out of nowhere. As the white cloud descended on them, many troopers screamed as the phosphorus landed on their armour, the chemical reaction cooking them from the inside. 'Smoke', Kara called out, and the Ghosts' blasters adjusted to firing smoke grenades into the crowd of stormtroopers that remained. But Kara had underestimated what desperation and surprise can cause people to do, and many troopers blindly fired into the air, lighting the sky up with blaster bolts.

As the Ghosts scattered, a stray bolt caught one of the thrusters on Tyzen's jetpack. Forced to fly lopsidedly in the direction of the ground, the giant Viszla boy realised he was coming in too fast, but there was nothing he could do. As he slammed into the hardened rock, Tyzen cried out in pain as he felt his bones break through his armour. His camouflage mode was deactivated in the crash, too, and as the stormtroopers noticed him on their scanners, they walked over to the feebly moving Mandalorian, pointing their blasters at him.

'Any last words, rebel scum?' one of the stormtroopers snarled.

'Yeah', Tyzen snarled back in defiance. 'My fight is over.'

**00000000**

As the explosive in Tyzen's body activated, the ground shook as the blast engulfed him and disintegrated the dozen troopers pointing their blasters at him. As he plunged one of his shadowy hands through the chest of a stormtrooper, Ben felt his friend become one with the Force, and a tear fall from his eye behind the mask he wore. _Hail and farewell, brother_ , he thought. _May the Force be with you_. He reactivated the crimson lightsaber that came with his new outfit, and set about slicing any trooper who came close enough to ribbons. Ben realised with some surprise that he was fighting in the style of _Makashi_ , the one-handed method of lightsaber combat that closely resembled fencing. It was also one of the few styles Ben had never quite gotten the hang of, and yet he was using it like he'd mastered it years ago. It seemed that Nihilus had given him his lightsaber skills along with his Force powers, and despite himself, Ben sent a quick prayer of thanks to the ancient Sith Lord. Then a second blast rang out across the field, much to Ben's shock.

**00000000**

Beti screamed as she saw Tyzen blow apart. She had spent the last three years watching Ben and Kara wrapping themselves around each other, and dreaming that she could have the same with Tyzen, but whenever she'd tried to work up the courage to tell him how she felt, her voice had failed her. And now she'd never get another chance. 'Rapid fire', Beti growled into her blaster, and she launched a volley of blaster bolts at the troopers below her. Unfortunately, doing so gave her aerial position away, and the stormtroopers fired at her in return. Beti's beskar armour protected her from the onslaught, but the bolts still felt like hard punches against her body, jerking her around in the air. Then one, lucky shot caught Beti in the small gap between the bottom of her helmet and the top of her body armour, and she suddenly lost the ability to breathe as the bolt went through the side of her neck. As she landed on Mustafar's hard surface, sputtering blood out her mouth as she fell to her hands and knees, the female Durran twin saw three First Order flametroopers point their D-93 Incinerators at her through her helmet. As they literally opened fire on her, Beti managed to croak out 'my fight is over'.

**00000000**

The D-93 Incinerator used by the flametroopers of the First Order worked through the use of a flammable gel known as conflagrine-14. The gel was attached to twin outer fuel tanks, which in turn was attached to each flametrooper's back. The fiery blast from Beti blowing apart, powerful enough in its own right, caused three secondary blasts when it reached the tanks attached to the three flametroopers pointing their weapons at her, engulfing the two dozen stormtroopers around them in turn. As their screams echoed across the battlefield, which was now a mass of smoke, blood, puke, piss, and the hacked-up and burnt-out bodies of stormtroopers, Ben felt Beti pass into the Force. ' _No'_ , he growled. He heard Desric cry out in grief as he looked at what remained of his twin, and Ben made the decision that no more of his team would die this day. He didn't know if his comlink was anywhere in the black robes he now wore, so he reached into the minds of the remaining members of his team through the Force. _Retrieve what… what remains of our friends, then get back to the ship_ , he ordered. He felt Ishi fire smoke grenades into the crowd of stormtroopers with the "smoke" setting on her blaster, then use the distraction to pick up what remained of Tyzen. He felt Desric do the same to retrieve what remained of Beti. But where was Kara? As Ben looked across the battlefield for his fiancé, still killing troopers with Nihilus' former lightsaber where they stood, he saw the most horrible thing he'd seen that day: Kylo Ren was holding Kara by the throat.

 _NO!_ Ben thought as he surged forward through the crowd of troopers. The Sith Lightning that burst from Ben's fingers as he began clearing a path did not simply electrocute the stormtroopers as it had the Knights of Ren on Tython, but blasted them to ashes. Ben remembered what Nihilus had said about their shared abilities being amplified. Once he got off this planet, he would have to test his new powers out.

**00000000000**

When Kara had seen both Tyzen and Beti sacrifice themselves, she had realised there was little chance of them winning this fight. The bodies of stormtroopers littered the battlefield, but there were at least four hundred left either firing at the sky or at Ben in his new outfit. The remaining Ghosts were still camouflaged, as was their ship floating in orbit, but Kara knew it was only a matter of time before they were all killed. Then she caught sight of the dark figure positioned apart from the battlefield, as she was gripped by a sudden thought. One of the first lessons Boba had taught the Ghosts when he began teaching them strategy and tactics was the importance of commanding officers. If you killed the person giving the orders, the rest would become disorganised, and easier to defeat. So while the others ducked and dodged the blaster bolts from stormtroopers, Kara quietly flew towards Kylo Ren. Seith had designed the camouflage setting in the Ghosts' combat gear to be undetectable to all forms of scanning and decloaking that existed in the galaxy. Unfortunately for Kara, the Force was not a technological setting. As she drew close to the dark warrior, and prepared to fire more white phosphorus at him, she felt herself yanked out of the sky by an invisible hand, and forced towards the ground.

**00000000**

Kylo had watched the battlefield with no small amount of interest. After having seen Ben Skywalker rise out of the destroyed monolith in his new form, Kylo had decided to hang back and see him in action. After seeing that he wielded a red lightsaber, Kylo had reached out to the young Skywalker's mind, convinced that he had fully embraced the power of the dark side. But no. Kylo still sensed that Skywalker was connected towards both the dark and light sides. But he was steadily edging closer to the darkness. It wouldn't take much to trip him over. Then Kylo sensed one of Skywalker's companions drawing closer to him, and forced her down to the ground with the Force. As she hit the rock, Kylo pulled her forward telekinetically and gripped her by the throat. She was wearing some kind of cloaking device, so Kylo reached out and found its setting… there.

As the female revealed herself to him, Kylo recognised the design on the armour. 'You're Mandalorian', he stated. So Skywalker had recruited warriors from his home planet to aid him. How very pragmatic.

'Yeah, I am', the warrior growled back at him. Kylo was impressed to find no trace of fear within her, despite her situation. Not everyone looked in the face of death with defiance. Then again, the reputation of Mandalorian warriors was one of fearlessness. Kylo had secretly longed to face a Mandalorian warrior in single combat for a long time, even before he had embraced his destiny as a Knight of Ren, and he briefly considered releasing the warrior so he could see what she was made of. Then Kylo felt Skywalker's rage, and he looked across the battlefield to see him making a beeline for Kylo across the fiery battlefield, ripping through lines of stormtroopers like they weren't even there. There was something beneath the rage, too. It was… love. Kylo blinked in surprise beneath his mask. Love? Kylo gazed into the female Mandalorian's mind, and he saw her and Skywalker together. _Oh Skywalker_ , Kylo thought. _What an unexpected turn of events._

**000000000**

As Ben tore through the final line of stormtroopers blocking him from Kara and Kylo Ren, he felt the rest pointing their blasters at him. 'CEASEFIRE!' Kylo bellowed, his voice booming across the battlefield. Immediately, a little over three hundred stormtrooper blasters ceased firing, although they were still pointed at Ben.

As Ben skidded to a halt some twenty feet from his fiancé in the arms of his enemy, he realised that Kylo's lightsaber was ignited, and held across a kneeling Kara's throat. Ben realised the lightsaber now had a crossguard added to it, and the red blade itself had a jagged, serrated edge to it.

'Take off your mask', the dark warrior demanded.

Ben hadn't tried it yet, but as he concentrated, the mask and hood he was wearing simply melted away into shadows, baring his face and head, though he remained cloaked in the dark robes from the neck down. Ben also noticed there were shadows pouring off his robes even when he was in solid form. Had it not been for the circumstances he was in, Ben would have marvelled at this.

 _He didn't replace the crystal I broke_ , Ben thought, as he gazed at the Knight of Ren's lightsaber.

Calling out, he said 'you do realise you risk blowing yourself up every time you turn that thing on, right?'

Kylo shrugged. 'The Supreme Leader gave me permission to replace the crystal- once you and your father were dead. Speaking of which, where is he?'

'Haven't a clue', Ben replied back.

'I will force the truth out of you no matter what you say now. How did you suddenly gain the powers of a Sith Lord? How did you learn them without rejecting the light?'

Beneath the questions, Ben sensed Kylo's fear… and his desire. Kylo wanted what Ben had been given. He wanted the power of a Sith Lord. He wanted to be as strong as their grandfather had been.

'You're afraid that you will never be as strong as Vader', Ben remarked. 'And you're also afraid that I… already am.'

He tried to comfort Kara through the Force, to let her know that everything would be okay. But Kara had never really been one for letting herself be saved, and she was still holding onto her blaster. While Ben and Kylo talked, she quietly said "regular" and fired a bolt into Kylo's leg.

**0000000**

What happened next, happened very quickly. Kara fired into Kylo's leg, and in an action of pure reflex, the dark warrior's left hand, which was holding the scruff of Kara's neck, pushed the kneeling Mandalorian forward. Unfortunately, in that brief split second, Kylo forgot that his right hand was holding an ignited lightsaber across Kara's throat, and as she fell forward, her helmeted head was separated from her body. At the sight of his fiancé, his first love, who he'd loved with all the passion of a first love, lose her head right in front of him, Ben screamed with everything he had. And as he did, the ground exploded around him. The three hundred stormtroopers pointing blasters at Ben were reduced to ash in the blink of an eye as Kylo was thrown backwards. His power with the Force protected Kylo from Ben's Force Scream. But it wouldn't save him from Ben's wrath.

**0000000**

Ketu awoke from his slumber as he felt the pain of his former apprentice across the galaxy. The long-dead Je'daii realised how close Ben was to following in his grandfather's footsteps, and reached out with his mind.

**00000000**

Kylo reignited his jagged lightsaber, but Ben was already reaching out with the Force and crushing his helmet, with the intention of squishing Kylo's head like overripe fruit beneath it. Kylo yelled in pain and quickly ripped his mask off.

Ben then used the Force to telekinetically seize Kylo by the throat, choking him. As the Knight of Ren was hoisted into the air, his face growing red as he grasped at his throat, Ben ignited his new red lightsaber and pointed it at him.

'So you wanna be the next Darth Vader, huh?', he snarled. 'Well then, how fortunate that we are in the place where Vader was born. For what you just did, I'm gonna do to you what Obi-Wan Kenobi did to our dear old Grandpa, on this very planet.'

Ben sensed Kylo's fear increase as his face turned a deeper shade of red.

'First,' Ben said, his voice now growing cold with murderous rage, 'I'm gonna cut off your limbs, one by one. Then I'm gonna _fucking bathe you_ in the lava this planet so conveniently provides.'

Ben could actually _feel_ his eyes blossoming with yellow. He remembered Ketu's lesson that this was a sign he was close to succumbing to the dark side. But he didn't care. His ability to care felt like it had died with Kara.

'Then', Ben finished, 'I will grant you the death you will be begging me for by then. But take comfort in the fact that when you die, the state you will be in will be the closest you will ever get to Darth Vader.'

He heard a whimper of fear come from Kylo's throat, his face now turning shades of blue and purple. Then, as Ben prepared to start cutting limbs off, he heard Ketu's voice.

_What is the code of the Je'daii?_

Ben was so surprised to hear his old master's voice he released Kylo from his grip. As Kylo fell to the ground, wheezing as air came back into his lungs, Ben looked around for Ketu, but didn't see him.

_What is the code of the Je'daii?_

'Flowing through all, there is balance', Ben began.

_Good. Finish it._

'There is no peace without passion to create. There is no passion without peace to guide. Knowledge stagnates without the strength to act. Power blinds without the serenity to see. There is freedom in life. There is purpose in death. The Force is all things and I am the Force.'

As he spoke the code of those who walked the balance between the dark and light sides of the Force, Ben felt calm replacing the fire that had been burning in his veins moments earlier, and he felt his eyes change from sickly yellow back to emerald green. But he still felt the need to avenge the deaths of his teammates and his fiancé.

 _I sense what you desire to do_ , Ketu spoke. _I will not stop you. In fact, I encourage you to do it_. _But do not strike your cousin down in anger. If you do, you will have taken the first step towards becoming the worst monster the galaxy has ever known._

Ben suddenly remembered what Nihilus had said about the consequences of the power he had given Ben. Kylo needed to die, but he need not die slowly, despite Ben's heart screaming at him to do so. Ben would cut Kylo's head off and be done with it. With this in mind, he turned his attention back to his cousin, then remembered that he hadn't restrained Kylo after releasing him.

**000000000**

Kylo had never felt anything like the power emanating from Ben Skywalker when he lifted Kylo into the air. When he described what he was going to do to Kylo as revenge for the death of his woman, Kylo had never felt so scared of anyone in all his life, not even the Supreme Leader. Kylo hadn't actually meant to kill the girl, but Skywalker had seemed beyond caring of that. When he released Kylo, the Knight of Ren spent the next few moments lying on the ground, gathering his thoughts. He had recognised the bone-white mask Skywalker had been wearing before it dissolved into shadow, and he had felt the power of the dark side radiating off it. It was the mask of Darth Nihilus- Kylo had recognised it from drawings in books he had taken from Vader's home the last time he came to Mustafar. Somehow, incredible as it seemed, Skywalker must had found the mask in Vader's castle, and had gained the ancient Sith Lord's power from wearing it. Which meant he was now probably stronger in the Force than Kylo would ever be. Then Kylo felt his energy returning to him, and as he slowly stood up, he saw Skywalker turn to him, still holding what Kylo realised must have been Nihilus' lightsaber.

Kylo's former bravado crumbled, and he thrust his hand out towards Skywalker in a sheer act of desperation. To his surprise, his fear did not cause the telekinetic push typical of force-wielders, but Sith Lightning. Weaker than the kind he had seen Skywalker use before, but it was definitely Sith Lightning that burst from Kylo's fingers.

**000000000**

Ben was so surprised and shocked to see the lightning burst from Kylo's fingers, he forgot to raise his lightsaber to defend himself. As it struck the left side of his face, ripping deep gashes in his skin, Ben screamed in agony and fell to the ground, his vision briefly leaving him. He felt Kylo grabbing his crossguard lightsaber and running towards him, and in a moment of pure instinct, Ben summoned Nihilus' lightsaber to his hand, activated it and blocked Kylo's strike from his position lying down. Then, regaining his vision, Ben performed _cho mai_ , the action of separating a weapon hand from one's arm, with a flick of his wrist. Kylo cried out as Ben's lightsaber severed his right hand, and as Ben scrambled to his feet and prepared to remove Kylo's head with a backhand stroke, Kylo pushed him away with the Force.

It was at this moment that the magma which had been pushing to the surface even since Ben blew Vader's temple to smithereens suddenly rushed up and separated the two combatants, spewing lava between them. Ben knew he couldn't stay on the surface, so the black robes he wore dissolved into shadow and were replaced with the beskar armour Ben had been wearing before he pressed Nihilus' mask to his face. The lightsaber disappeared along with the robes, to Ben's disappointment. Ben suddenly realised he was holding his Mandalorian helmet in his hand, so he quickly jammed it on, ignoring the throbbing pain of the damage Kylo's lightning had done to his face, ignited his jetpack, and blasted off the surface towards where he could sense the invisible _Blackjack_ was located. As he looked down, he saw Kylo run away towards his ship, cradling the stump his right hand had been attached to.

 _You wanted to be Darth Vader_ , Ben thought. _Now you're one step closer_.

As Seith opened the blast doors, Ben flew in, then ripped off his helmet. Ignoring Ishi's cry of horror as the sight of the gashes caused by Kylo's lightning, Ben gave the order for Seith to jump to hyperspace.

The deaths of six hundred stormtroopers and the maiming of a darksider in comparison to the deaths of three Ghosts would probably have been heralded as a victory by anyone else. But it did not feel like a victory to Ben, as Ishi and Desric began bandaging his face.

**000000000**

Darth Nihilus watched with a terrible glee as Skywalker slaughtered the soldiers around him. He sensed Skywalker drawing closer and closer to the point of no return as the woman he loved was beheaded right in front on him. Then Nihilus was disappointed as Skywalker somehow brought himself back from the lure of darkness. Ah, well. It did not matter. For Skywalker would succumb to the darkness, eventually. He should have realised that Nihilus had been tricking him the whole time. Did the boy not realise how dangerous it was to trust a Sith Lord? How had Nihilus' very name not given away his nature?

Traditionally, Sith Lords chose names that reflected who they were. Nihilus had chosen his due to the nihilistic attitude he had had when he was alive. This had distanced him from the other Sith, as while they believed their purpose was to rule everything, Nihilus believed they had no purpose at all. In fact, Nihilus believed that the only true way to live was to have as much fun as one possibly could before they died. And to Nihilus, fun involved destruction. Fun involved burning things. People, planets, whatever it was, as far as Nihilus was concerned, if it was alive, it had to burn. He had distanced himself from his fellow Sith over this, but had Revan's apprentice not struck him down, Nihilus may very well have succeeded in his task to destroy all forms of life. For if everything was going to die anyway, why not hurry it along?

Nihilus had been telling the truth when he said that resistance to the dark urges that came with his power was possible, but not the whole truth. For resistance to it would not last forever, no matter how strong a person's will. And Nihilus had sensed that Ben Skywalker's willpower was not as strong as he would have liked it to be. There was _a_ way to resist the corruption that came with a host absorbing Nihilus' power into their own, and that was for the host to draw power from a vessel that was just as strong in the light side of the Force as the host was in the dark. But there were no more Jedi, and even if there were, Nihilus was confident that no Jedi would be the equal of the monster he had just made out of Ben Skywalker. As Nihilus finally faded away, and became one with the Force, his only regret was that he would not be around to see Ben Skywalker destroy the galaxy.

**000000000**

Rey jerked awake in her bed. She'd been having the strangest dream. She'd seen a building explode, heard the screams of the dying, and seen two men in black robes with red laser swords meet in battle as fire danced around them. She tried to picture their faces, but couldn't for the life of her remember them.

 _Strange_ , Rey thought, as she settled back down to sleep. It had all seemed so real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can see where this is going, can't you? ;)
> 
> Phew, this chapter was a tough one to write. It was harder to kill off original characters that I thought it would be. Please leave reviews if you have the time, and don't be afraid to use (constructive) criticism if you want! :) I'm sorry for skipping right from the beginning to the end with the Ghosts. I may do a spin-off story about their three years as a team when this story is finished.


	11. Farewells and reunifications

The hyperspace jump back to Mandalore was done in silence. Even though Ishi and Desric had put a substantial amount of morphine in him after bandaging the scarred side of his face, Ben could tell Desric was trying not to cry. Ben didn't blame Desric one little bit for that. After all, Ben had just lost his fiancé, and he was struggling not to burst into tears. But for someone to lose their _twin_ … it must have been like having a piece of yourself ripped from you. And Desric hadn't just lost Beti, he'd watched her blow herself up right in front of him. All Desric had left of Beti now was the burn-out helmet he had retrieved from Mustafar's surface. Ishi, meanwhile, had managed to retrieve of of Tyzen's gauntlets. But nothing remained of Kara. Ben hadn't seen her headless body lying anywhere when he'd lifted Kylo Ren by his throat, and he suspected that her body had been turned to ash along with the stormtroopers when Ben had screamed. Ben still recalled the raw power emanating from his throat when he had done so, and he was now very wary of what new power he may have gained from wearing Darth Nihilus' mask. If he hadn't ordered Ishi and Desric to get back to their ship beforehand, they could very well have been killed when Ben had screamed. He needed to get away. Far away from everyone, and figure out exactly what it was he was now capable of. Maybe if he went back over the books he'd read on Nihilus, he'd find a way to become more… stable.

On top of all this, Ben also had to deal with the fact that due to his new powers, he would surely be a much larger presence in the Force, and would therefore be much easier to track by his Force-sensitive enemies. Then he remembered he'd pocketed the Taozin amulet that had been wrapped around Nihilus' mask, and he pulled it out.

**000000000**

To say that Snoke was shocked by his apprentice's report would be an understatement.

Ben Skywalker had, somehow, gained the mask, and with it, the power, of a Sith Lord. And not just any Sith Lord. Even though he'd been dead for four thousand years, Darth Nihilus was well-known amongst darksiders for his fanatical devotion to ruling over a galaxy of the dead. He'd also possessed powers that were rare amongst even the strongest Sith Lords. Ironically, Snoke probably had the Jedi Meetra Surik, who'd cut Nihilus down, to thank for being able to rule over anyone at all. And for even being alive. If Ben Skywalker was now capable of what Nihilus had been capable of, the First Order was in the worst danger it had even been in.

Then there was the matter of Ben Skywalker having Mandalorian warriors fighting with him. Ever since Commander Gillette's "episode" had caused the Trillia Massacre three years ago, all sorts of strange things had been happening to the First Order. Troop and cargo transports mysteriously blowing up mid-flight. Senators secretly loyal to Snoke being assassinated, or disappearing and turning up dead and mutilated on different planets altogether. Officers like Gillette suddenly turning on and slaughtering their comrades, then killing themselves before they could be apprehended. The work of rebels, no doubt. But this was not the work of rebels like Luke Skywalker and his comrades, who somehow found a way to both defeat the Empire and retain their morality. This was the work of rebels like Saw Gerrera and his band of lunatics, who tossed their morality (and their lives) aside like garbage in favour of slaughtering every Imperial they got their hands on. And now, finally, Snoke knew who was responsible. Ben Skywalker must have recruited mercenaries from his homeworld to help him against the First Order. Ever since Bo-Katan Kryze had refused Snoke's offer of an alliance between Mandalore and the First Order, Snoke had been sending his spies on a regular basis throughout the planet's bio-cube cities, and had received no reports that Ben Skywalker or any form of a Mandalorian military was on the planet. Snoke had even sent his spies to Concordia, the Mandalorian moon where Death Watch had trained in secret, but once again, they had met nobody there who seemed like any kind of soldier. Only those who were trying to restore the moon to the agricultural state it had been in before the wars that had ravaged it.

It was perfectly possible that Bo-Katan had authorised the training of a small militia to aid her grandson. In fact, Snoke saw it as what had most likely happened. But he had no proof, and he couldn't very well have Kylo Ren go to Mandalore and poke around inside the mind of Mandalore's Governess. Such a public attack on a Senate official would cause an uproar, and Snoke saw it as entirely likely that it may even cause the Republic to declare war on the First Order. The only option Snoke really had was to keep the spies running around Mandalore and wait to see if they found anything.

Snoke reached out with his mind, trying to locate Ben Skywalker, but came up with nothing. Not that he was surprised by that. The boy was probably in the Outer Rim by now. But finding and killing him had to be the priority for the First Order now. Luke Skywalker was still a threat, but now, Snoke saw it was his son who presented the real danger.

As Snoke mulled over his thoughts, he turned to Kylo Ren, who was kneeling in front of him, his right hand now made out of metal.

'Alert the First Order that as of now, Ben Skywalker is our most wanted man. More than his father, more than his aunt, more so that even that pitiful Resistance that tries to stand against us.'

'Yes, Supreme Leader. If I may suggest, why not put a reward on his head? Then we would have many more eyes out looking for Skywalker.'

Snoke considered this, and could not see a problem with it. 'Very well. What would make a common bounty hunter foolish enough to try killing Ben Skywalker?'

Snoke thought it very unlikely that Skywalker wouldn't kill every single person who came after him, but at least it would alert the First Order where he was.

'A million credits seems enough.'

'Make it five million.'

**000000000**

For the first time in what felt like a long time, after he'd arrived back on Mandalore and given his report of what had happened, Ben did not go to sleep with Kara besides him. One of the many things that he'd loved about their relationship was that whenever one of them had nightmares about the simply _atrocious_ things they had done as Ghosts, the other was always right next to them to hold them and give them comfort. Kara had often joked that they were two broken people who only fit together. That now seemed like more of a reality than a joke. Ben didn't even want to think about what Desric was going through.

About a week after Ben's return to Mandalore, the bandages had come off. The left side of Ben's face was now covered in scars which were shaped, strangely enough, like lightning bolts. Whenever he stood naked in front of the mirror in his room now, it was quite a shock to look at the marks he had gained on his body ever since beginning his training as a Grey Jedi. His chest, abdomen, legs and back was a mess of claw marks from the vornskrs he'd met on Tython, scorch marks from a mission where one of Seith's bombs had gone off prematurely, and even a couple of blaster bolt marks from another mission where stormtroopers had managed to get lucky shots through the gaps in his armour. With all this and the scars he now had on his face, Ben was now looking like a walking mass of scar tissue. Kara had never cared about Ben's scars, mostly because she had gained much of the same herself during their time as Ghosts. But Kara had never seen Ben the same way most people did. When he'd reported back to Leia of what had taken place on Mustafar, he'd seen the pity in her eyes as she looked at his facial scars.

In all honesty, Ben did not know what to do now. The Ghosts had had a great run over the course of their fifty-six successful missions. That much was certain. But it had to come to an end at some point, and with the loss of almost half their team, it seemed that the time had come. As the first few days back went by, Ben had used the mantra Ketu had taught him to calm himself, but right now, he knew that he needed to do something else other than wearing a suit of Mandalorian armour and blowing people up. When he'd told his grandmother that he was considering going back to Tython, Bo-Katan had simply shown Ben a photograph from one of the spies Leia had in the First Order, which showed a blockade of Star Destroyers positioned around Tython. No doubt Snoke had put them there recently in case Ben decided to go back. That option being a bust, Ben had thought about officially joining the Resistance. Leia had told him, in confidence, that her base was in the Illeenium system, on the planet D'Qar to be exact. Then Ben realised that Leia would simply have him and the other Ghosts run the same sort of missions that Bo-Katan and Boba had made him run. Maybe in time, Ben would gain back the will to fight, but right now the guilt at leading half his team to their deaths was overwhelming him. And the books he'd been re-reading on Nihilus weren't helping either. Apparently, the Dark Lord had seen the death of all life as the greatest thing he could accomplish. Nihilus had given Ben his power and lightsaber skills. Who was to say he hadn't also given Ben his twisted perspective?

The day after Ben's bandages came off, Bo-Katan summoned the surviving Ghosts to the briefing room. But there were no holographs of someone they needed to assassinate or things they needed to blow up.

'I understand this has been a difficult time for you', she began. Ben noticed Boba and Kalani were beside her. He'd talked to Boba previously about Kara's death, and while the old bounty hunter had been visibly holding back tears, he'd taken comfort in the fact that Kara had died fighting. Ben had been expecting Boba to blame him for Kara's death, so he was relived to find Boba held no grudges. At least, not to Ben's face.

'The loss you have experienced, especially as such a tightly-knit group that trained and fought together for years on end, must feel… overwhelming', Bo-Katan continued. 'But we must consider our options now. With the deaths of three of our seven Ghosts, I propose that, at least for now, this strikeforce be disbanded. The explosives within you will also have to be taken out.'

Nobody raised a voice in disagreement against either of Bo-Katan's suggestions. 'With all the experience you have gained in fighting the First Order for so long,' Bo-Katan said, 'I believe that now, your skills must be redirected towards training the army we said we would raise to help the Resistance, and fight the First Order. I have contacted many of my old comrades who survived the Galactic Civil War, and many of them have volunteered to put their children and grandchildren forward for training. Some have even volunteered to help you in training them.'

'I'm in', Ishi said immediately and with conviction.

'Me too', Seith followed shortly after.

Desric simply nodded.

They all turned to Ben. 'What about you, big brother?', Ishi asked.

'Ben has made the decision to leave Mandalore', Bo-Katan said.

The others looked incredulously at him. 'You're our leader! You're the one who's supposed to be leading our army! You can't just go!' Ishi cried out.

'It's too dangerous for me to stay here now', Ben said. 'By now, Kylo Ren will have reported back to Snoke that I was fighting alongside Mandalorian warriors at Mustafar. Who's to say the First Order isn't on its way here? Frankly, I'm surprised they haven't already arrived.'

Ishi looked like she was about to cry. 'I will come back', Ben soothed.

'Yeah? When?', his sister asked.

'I don't know. I just… I just can't stay here right now. But I will come back, I promise.' Ben said.

Ishi glared at him, then stormed out of the room.

**000000000**

Once he had packed all his belongings into _Blackjack_ , and once the explosive in his neck had been deactivated and removed, Ben visited Kalani first to say goodbye. The old Super-Tactical droid may have answered to Leia, but he also served Ben. Ben gave Kalani the order to stay on Concordia and help to raise Mandalore's army through giving lessons in tactics and strategy, the same way he'd trained Ben.

Next, he visited his family back on Mandalore. Mira cried at the news that her son was leaving again for parts unknown, but understanding. Lizzy and Mayli were understanding as well, but there were visible tears leaking out of their eyes as they hugged their older brother goodbye. Ben had heard that Lizzy, who was twenty now, would be amongst the first crop of recruits to join Mandalore's army, which both filled him with pride and saddened him. The only reason Mayli hadn't also joined up was because she was seventeen, though she swore she would be joining up on her eighteenth birthday.

Ben then travelled back to Concordia to first say goodbye to Bo-Katan and Boba, the latter of whom would be in charge of training Mandalore's army. Bo-Katan solemnly embraced her grandson goodbye, then made him promise he would come back soon to lead Mandalore's army.

'Once more and more people start arriving on Concordia, what makes you think both the Republic and the First Order won't take notice?' Ben asked his grandmother.

Bo-Katan smiled. 'Don't worry about that. There are… precautions I have taken.'

Ben pressed his grandmother for more, but got nothing.

After all that, it was time to say goodbye to his team. Ben knocked on Seith's room first. They talked for a bit about the times they'd shared, then Ben asked, jokingly, if Seith had by any chance invented a device to take the scars off his body. He was subsequently surprised when Seith said 'I thought you'd never ask', and started digging around in his desk.

Seith then pulled out what looked like a small, thin computer chip. 'With your permission, I will insert this into the side of your head, and to activate it, you need only press down where it is for your scars to be cloaked, so you will look how you used to. If you press on it a second time, your… natural form… will be revealed.'

One quick fifteen-minute surgery through the aid of a medical droid later, Ben had the chip inserted into the right side of his head. As he looked into a full-length mirror, Ben pressed the small, surgical scar which marked where the chip had been placed, and watched in awe as the scars on his face disappeared. Taking off his shirt, Ben saw the same applied to his upper body. Then he pressed it again, and the scars returned.

'What can't you invent, my friend?' he asked.

Seith grinned. 'I've yet to find out.'

**0000000**

Ben visited Desric next. The surviving Durran twin was very understandable as to why Ben was leaving, and Ben felt like they parted on good terms as they hugged each other goodbye. Then it was time to say goodbye to Ishi. Ben had purposefully been saving this for last, as he wasn't at all sure what she would do. When he knocked on her door, he stepped inside, and was greeted by his sister throwing her arms around his neck, silently weeping. Ben felt tears prickle his eyes too.

'I know you must feel like I'm abandoning you-' he began.

'It doesn't feel like that', Ishi interrupted. She took a deep breath. 'I get why you're doing this, and I know you only want to protect us but please… please come back.'

'I will', Ben swore. 'I promise.'

'Before you go...' Ishi trailed off. She brought something out from her pocket, and offered it to Ben. Ben recognised it immediately. It was the seed of a Concordian peach plant. Concordian peaches were one of Ben's favourite things to eat, so he was grateful for the gift.

'I just wanted you to take this so... every time you looked at what grows from it, you would be reminded of where you come from,' Ishi whispered.

Ben hugged his sister and kissed her on the forehead. 'I would never forget that.'

His goodbyes finished with, Ben got into _Blackjack_ , and set course for Takodana. Much as it pained him, it was probably time to give Maz her ship back. Besides, she was pretty much the only person Ben knew who might actually know a place for him to disappear until he'd pulled himself back together.

**000000000**

As Bo-Katan watched her grandson take off in his U-Wing and jump to hyperspace, Kalani appeared beside her.

'Apologies if I am interrupting, Governess, but I just received word that the first recruits for the new Mandalorian army will be arriving in three days time. I understand that another of your granddaughters will be among them.'

'Thank you, Kalani.'

'Are we to raise the planetary shield now?'

'No. We wait until the first recruits arrive. I don't want to attract any attention until it's absolutely unavoidable.'

Kalani nodded, and left Bo-Katan be.

The truth that Mandalore's Governess had told Boba and Kalani, which she had refused to tell Ben, was that for the last few years, she'd had Mandalore's top technicians work to create a planetary-wide defensive shield for both Concordia and Mandalore, similar to the one's the Empire had used during the days of the Galactic Civil War. Naturally, it would raise eyebrows within the Senate, but Bo-Katan was thinking more along the lines of how the First Order would react. As Ben had already pointed out, there was no guarantee that the First Order wasn't on their way here right now to blow both Mandalore and its moon apart. Despite her old age, Bo-Katan felt a teenager's excitement at the idea of raising a Mandalorian army again. War was the lifeblood of the Mandalorian culture, and Bo-Katan felt a strong sense of pride that the tradition would continue after she was dead. Hell, if Ben did not return from where he was going, Bo-Katan would lead Mandalore's army herself. After all, she'd rather die on a battlefield than in a bed, though she would never tell anybody that. Such things were unbecoming of the Governess of Mandalore.

**0000000000**

Maz was closing up for the night, her customers returning to their ships, when she saw a U-Wing drop out of hyperspace and make a beeline for her castle. Not just any U-Wing, though. Maz's jaw dropped as she recognised _Blackjack_. It didn't look much like the ship she had given Ben Skywalker eight years ago. Its silver-and-blue appearance had been replaced by a black-and-red colouring, with the words _War Machine_ printed on the side in a language Maz recognised as Mando'a. So, the younger Skywalker had returned to his homeworld. He had some explaining to do. For starters, why, after eight years, had he suddenly found a reason to come back. As the ship landed, Maz wondered if the man who'd recently reached No.1 on the First Order's "Most Wanted" list had somehow heard about the lightsaber she kept locked in the underground of her castle, and felt a small prickle of fear that he would be angry she had kept it from him. After all, he was in the right to claim it, and it was only recently that Maz had felt Ben surrounded by the power of the dark side. If he decided to take his family's lightsaber by force, Maz couldn't see herself being able to stop him. Maz reached out with the Force, trying to see into Skywalker's mind.

To her surprise, she found herself completely blocked off from it.

**0000000000**

Ben exited _Blackjack_ , and approached Maz, who was standing outside her castle in the wake of the setting sun. As he drew closer, he saw she was looking at him closely, her forehead scrunched up, and realised what she was doing.

'Trying to read my mind, Maz?' he chuckled. 'Afraid that'll be quite impossible with this', he said, as he revealed the taozin amulet he was wearing around his neck.

'Taozin skin', Maz grumbled. 'I guess I'll have to ask you face-to-face then- what are you _doing_ here? Because I'm willing to bet it's not to return the ship. And what the hell did you do to her, anyway?'

'It's a long story, Maz, so why don't we go inside and talk about it?'

**0000000000**

'So, let's just recap this. You found Tython, a living AND a dead Je'daii trained you, you faced your cousin in combat and beat him, went back to your people and led a strikeforce against the First Order for several years, before half of them got killed on Mustafar, where you not only defeated your cousin for a second time _and_ cut off his hand, but gained the powers of a Sith Lord who has been dead for four thousand years?'

'That about sums it up, yeah', Ben replied. He leaned back in his chair, sipping the alcoholic drink Maz had kindly provided for him without charge.

Maz was shaking her head. 'I'm surprised you didn't get yourself killed along the way.'

'Well, it wasn't for lack of trying', Ben said. Pressing the side of his head, he revealed the scars on his face to Maz. 'And there's more on the parts you can't see', he added, pressing on the surgical scar and appearing normal again.

Maz looked like she was about to cry with pity. 'You Skywalkers are a cursed people', she said, sadly. Wiping away a solitary tear, she turned her attention back to Ben. 'And the ship?'

'One of my team gave it a new paintjob. Said he wanted it to look scarier to our enemies, to which I said there wasn't much point, considering they'd never see the ship coming anyway.'

'What?' Maz frowned.

'Let's just say _a lot_ of adjustments have been made to _Blackjack_ in the years you haven't seen her.' Ben finished his drink, and turned his attention back to Maz.

'Anyway, as to why I'm here… I'm looking for guidance.'

'Guidance?' Maz was confused.

'I don't know what to do next', Ben admitted. 'I may very well go back to the fight one day, but for now… I just need a break.'

'A break from what? The First Order placing you at the top of their Wanted list? Somehow I don't think that's going to happen.'

Although Ben hadn't previously heard about the First Order placing him at the top of their list, he wasn't surprised, either. After all, while his father had been hiding away, Ben had been actively fighting the First Order. He wouldn't be surprised either if they had realised by now he was behind the random attacks on them.

Maz pondered. 'I think you need to spend some time with your father's side of the family again.'

'What, Leia? Maz, I said I wanted a _break_ from the war. What do you think will be the first thing Leia tells me to do-'

'Not Leia', Maz interrupted. 'Han.'

'I don't even know where he is.'

' _I_ do', Maz said. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she said 'go back to your ship for the night. I have to make some calls.'

Ben wasn't sure he wanted to talk to Han again, considering the last time he'd seen them was when he'd ditched them in this very place, but he nodded. He cooked some of the food he'd brought from Mandalore for dinner. The advantage of having a genius for a team member was that besides the cloaking technology and the other, somewhat less-than-legal modifications he'd made to _Blackjack_ , Seith had had the idea of implementing his own cooking stove in the ship. After finishing his nerf-meat, Ben turned in for the night. The next morning, he was woken up by the sound of a ship landing right outside. Ben could sense Han and Chewie's presence, and suddenly felt a lot more nervous. Sure enough, the first thing he saw when he looked outside was the _Millennium Falcon_. And Han and Chewie walking outside of it.

_Well, here goes nothing_ , Ben thought, as he stepped outside and approached them.

The two un-retired smugglers regarded him for a moment.

Chewie tried to break the ice. _Heard the First Order made you the most wanted man in the galaxy._

'Heard you went back to smuggling', Ben replied curtly.

_Touché_ , the Wookiee replied, as he enveloped Ben in one of his rib-cracking embraces. Han hung back a bit. Ben could sense that he was feeling… guilty?

'I'm the one who ditched you guys. Why are you looking at me like…' Ben trailed off, then realised what it was.

'Did he do that to you?' Han asked quietly, pointing at Ben's face.

'Yes, _he_ did', Ben replied. 'But I cut off his hand, so the way I see it, that makes us equal-' Ben stopped when he realised his attempt at a joke had fallen way short of the mark.

'Look', said Ben. 'We've both had to deal with a lot of shit in our past. You, probably much more than me. But Maz reckons we need to spend time together, and I reckon she's right. So what do you say?'

Han was silent, and Ben realised his hair had lost its last few remaining traces of brown, and was now completely white.

'Well', Han said, chewing on his lip, 'I _have_ been thinking about adding some more crew.'

'Like a second mate?'

'Something like that. But are you sure? Maz told me you'd joined up with some Mandalorian death squad.'

'I didn't _join up_ with them, I _led_ them.'

Han's eyebrows shot up with surprise, and Ben sensed something that felt like a mixture of sadness and respect coming from Chewie.

'And one day, I may very well return to lead said death squad', Ben added. _And a lot more along with them._

'But for now', he continued, 'I need some time away from it all. And now that I'm out of it, I realise I've may have been in the war too long. That doesn't mean I won't go back… it means I won't go back just yet.'

Han nodded. 'Okay then, second mate', the old smuggler said. 'But you are going to have to leave that ship here,' he added, pointing at _Blackjack_.

Ben understood. It was a gut-wrench, but he understood. He wasn't really intending to be a second mate to Han for long, anyway. He'd only be with these old hickory trees for a few weeks.

A month at most.


	12. Kidnapping and crash landing

As Ben left Takodana in the _Falcon_ , Han and Chewie turned to him.

'So', Han said, 'you gonna tell us what exactly you ditched us for in the first place? Because your dad nearly skinned me alive for losing you.'

Ben told them everything. About finding Tython, fighting Jacen, leading the Ghosts, everything. When he was done, Han was shaking his head.

'I honestly thought I'd heard everything there was to hear by now about the Force. But you gaining the powers of someone who was dead by the time the Old Republic came around? That's a new one.'

_So, these new powers_ , Chewie asked, _what exactly are they?_

'Nihilus told me that any powers we had in common would be amplified', Ben replied. 'Other than that, I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure I got his lightsaber skills as well, along with his actual lightsaber, and his cloak, which is apparently bolt-proof, and his mask.'

_Can we see them?_

Ben hesitated. He hadn't taken the form of Nihilus since Mustafar, and he wasn't entirely sure what would happen if he did. For all he knew, he would slice through the pair of smugglers like they weren't even there.

_You do have them?_ Chewbacca prompted.

'Yeah', Ben said. 'But you might wanna stand back. And set your blasters to stun, I'm not entirely sure I can control it.'

'Control wha-' Han began, but Ben had already shifted. Seemingly out of nowhere, black shadows wrapped around the young Skywalker, becoming robes. The mask formed on his face, and Ben felt the lightsaber at his hip again. He drew it and ignited it, causing Han to jump back in shock at the sight of the red blade and Chewie to put both hands on his bowcaster.

'It's all right', Ben said. He deactivated the lightsaber, and the shadows slowly peeled off him.

_How did you do that?_

'I'm not entirely sure', Ben admitted, 'but I think it's kind of like my brain is telling it to happen. Like when it tells my legs to walk, or my fingers to click.'

The three of them were silent for a moment. Then Han spoke up.

'What do you know about the First Order putting you at the top of their list of people to kill?'

'Not much, other than that they did it. Why?'

Han and Chewie exchanged a look. 'They're currently offering five _million_ credits for the person who brings you to them, dead or alive. That means a whole lot of people who aren't from the First Order are going to come looking for you.'

'You mean bounty hunters?'

'No. I mean everyone looking to get rich. Which is pretty much everyone in any line of work who has no idea what you're capable of.'

_So pretty much everyone_ , Chewie summed up.

'So, what do I do?' Ben asked. He was beginning to feel very nervous.

'Well, the First Order is currently looking for a cleanshaven, twenty-six-going-on-twenty-seven-year-old man with brown hair, green eyes and distinctive scars on the left side of his face.'

'That last one can be taken care of', Ben grinned. Pressing on the side of his head, the scars melted away as if by magic.

_Is that some other Force trick we haven't heard of yet?_ Chewie asked.

'Technological, actually. I had a friend in the Ghosts who could invent anything he set his mind to.'

'Well, that's a relief', Han said. 'Because I was about to propose we shave off your hair.' He paused. 'I still think we should. Should we?'

'Not if you want to keep your heads attached to your bodies', Ben replied.

**0000000000**

Despite his disguise relatively handled, Han still insisted Ben stop shaving. Beards made an effortless yet effective disguise for beardless criminals, he explained. He also said Ben had to come up with a false name. It didn't take long for Ben to decide on Tyzen Viszla. It would be a good way to honour his friend, and also serve as a reminder that one day, he would return to Mandalore.

Han and Chewie had made some enemies in their time, and they insisted that Ben pulling out a lightsaber would set off all kinds of alarms which would culminate in the First Order chasing after them, so the two of them insisted, once they got out of Takodana, that Ben find a place to hide his belongings until the time was right to come back for them. Ben decided on Naboo. He had never visited his paternal grandmother's planet, and now felt as good a time as any.

The moment they jumped out of hyperspace, Ben wished he hadn't chosen Naboo. Because the planet was just about the most beautiful one he'd ever seen. Eventually, Ben chose a spot in one of Naboo's woods by a crystal-clear lake. There, he buried his belongings. First went his white-coloured lightsabers, and his Jedi robes. Ben had not actively used or worn them since he became a Ghost, but it was still a wrench to let them go. Then went the black-and-red beskar armour. Ben kept the blaster Seith had made for him, though. He also kept Ahsoka's shackles. If Nihilus' powers ever drove him down the wrong path, Ben needed a failsafe to ensure he wouldn't hurt anyone. Speaking of Nihilus, Ben also kept the books he had on the Dark Lord, to learn about his newfound abilities. Unfortunately, the books had been written by Jedi, who spent more time elaborating on the terrible things Nihilus had done rather than exactly how he was able to do them.

The books _did_ mention something called "Force Sever", which Ben had remembered as a Jedi ability when he was still studying the Force under his father. According to Luke, Jedi could use Force Sever to simply block a force-sensitive from being able to use the Force, and could easily restore the connection. According to the book, meanwhile, the dark side variant involved permanently draining the ability, at which point you could either destroy the power or add it to your own. The book mentioned that by the time Nihilus was struck down by Meetra Surik, the Sith Lord's corporeal form had mostly decomposed, and there was little more than a bunch of bones inside his robes. The book stated that draining force-sensitives of their power was what had kept Nihilus alive even while his body failed him, but was also what had driven him down the power-hungry path even his fellow Sith had considered to be too much. Ben decided he probably wouldn't use Force Sever after that. And if he did, he would probably just destroy the power- he had enough power to worry about without adding more on.

The three of them stayed on Naboo for a couple of weeks, so Ben could figure out which of his abilities had been amplified as Nihilus had said they would be. As far as he could tell, every one which required drawing on the dark side felt like it had jumped up a notch. When he practiced Force Lightning on a tree in the Naboo Woods, Ben had been blown off his feet by the sheer surge of electricity that flowed from his fingers, and the tree had been reduced to a pile of ash. Ben had then spent the next few hours practicing on the trees, teaching himself to control the amount of lighting that came out. A hundred burnt trees later, he felt like he could control the amount of lightning he released. His sheer strength in the Force had become greater too, as when Ben tried Force Grip on a shaak, one of Naboo's native animals, Ben had initially only meant to gently squeeze the throat of the non-sentient herbivore, but instead he had snapped its neck by merely clenching his fingers. After this, Ben had decided to practice on rocks instead. After initially crushing boulders into dust, Ben had finally managed to bring that particular power under control as well. But he didn't dare to try out Force Insanity, Deadly Sight and Morichro. There was no telling the kind of damage he may do with _those_ Force powers, and they only worked on beings, not trees or rocks.

Ben mostly spent his free time swimming in the lakes and using the Force to communicate with the native animals. Although those who occupied the land were peaceful, Ben could sense those who lingered in the deep water of Naboo's oceans were much more predatory and violent. As he had on Mustafar, Ben could sense the Force running through all of them, and now, whenever he moved something with the Force, it was almost like he could _see_ the Force moving it. Another of Nihilus' skills, or something he'd had in him all along? Ben didn't know, but he did know that he wanted to come back to Naboo someday. Maybe if the First Order was defeated and Ben wasn't dead by then, he could set up some sort of vacation home on Naboo.

Although Ben had previously established he would only be Han's second mate for a month at most, once they'd left Naboo, one month turned into two, then three, and so on. The fact was, he actually liked spending time with Han and Chewie. They had enough bawdy tales about their pasts to make Ben roll around on the floor laughing. And smuggling wasn't as bad as Ben had thought it would be. There was an almost harmless fun to transporting secret cargoes and dodging the authorities of whatever planet they happened to be on. And the First Order was, to Ben's delight, not even on most of the planets they visited. But he heard the whispers wherever he went of the reward on his head. And now there were images of his face on 'Wanted' posters scattered throughout the places they went to to drop off or pick up something they were smuggling. People may not have cared for the First Order much, but five million credits was enough to get any idiot with a blaster excited about taking a crack at the son of Luke Skywalker.

Ben saw the wisdom Han had implemented of growing a beard and hiding his facial scars. Absolutely none of the people they countered on streets or anywhere else, even when posters and holographic images of Ben's cleanshaven, scarred face were everywhere, recognised him. And although he was Han's nephew, the people they delivered illegal goods to didn't even bother to make the connection between Ben Skywalker having a price placed on his head and Han Solo bringing on a new crew member. They didn't ask many questions at all, really. Han said it was mostly to do with the fact that the sheer illegality of their smuggling meant their clients wanted them around as little as possible. As to what they smuggled, it ranged from spices to drugs to even livestock. Of course, the latter wasn't done in the _Falcon_. After he'd left Leia, Han had purchased a _Baleen_ -class heavy freighter he called the _Ervana_ for cargo he deemed too big for the _Falcon_. Most of the animals they transported ranged from the fleshy to the gelatinous, and although Ben had been a meat-eater all his life, he was uncomfortable at the idea of transporting animals to their deaths. Han assured him that most of the animals would be taken to "collectors", but that didn't make Ben feel any better.

There were women, too, on their journeys. How could there not be? Although Ben still grieved Kara, he knew his fiancé would not have wanted him to feel lonely. Ben was not lonely in that he had Han and Chewie as companions, but he was lonely in relation to intimacy. Ben missed the giving and taking of pleasure that came from making love, and he found it in quite a few women. Sure, it never went past a single night, and he was truly grateful for the pleasure the girls brought him, but at the same time, it never went beyond sex. They were always moving from one planet to the next, so it wasn't like it _could_ go beyond that. Besides, when the sex was over Ben would reveal the scars on his body to the girls, and they all either screamed immediately, or turned their gaze aside in disgust. Or both. It hurt a lot more than he wanted to admit.

Ben still planted the seed Ishi had given him in a pot on board the _Falcon_ , and was careful to water it every day. When the peaches that grew from the plant finally started ripening, Ben found a tear in his eye when their taste reminded him of Mandalore. Of all the planets he'd lived on, Mandalore was the only one he had ever really called home.

Ben also learned much more about the galaxy by travelling through it than he ever could have hoped to from books. Most notable of these were the many conflicts that were raging throughout the galaxy. Ben had been surprised to see that there was actually more than one war going on, then had felt foolish for it. After all, the galaxy was a big place. Why _wouldn't_ there be more than one war going on?

Han and Chewie used these wars to their advantage by smuggling weapons and other supplies- occasionally to both sides. Ben always asked what each war was about, and every time, Han's reply would be the same:

'Nothing, kid. It's just a pissing contest.'

This gave Ben pause for thought at how much of a difference he would really make, even if he brought the Jedi back in the form of knowing all components of the Force. He supposed that, at the end of the day, he could only try. He knew Luke would only respond with 'do or do not, there is no try', but that expression had never made sense to Ben. How could one every hope to achieve something without trying it first? He'd asked that question of his father, and Luke had merely said his master Yoda had taught the expression to him.

Yoda, the Grandmaster of the old Jedi, who had failed them in Ben's mind when he had allowed Darth Sidious to lie in plain sight for years and never be discovered. It may have been Anakin Skywalker who betrayed the Jedi, but in Ben's mind, it was Yoda who had let them down. Ben and his father had also clashed over whether or not Anakin had truly been redeemed when he saved Luke from the Emperor. After all, the original Skywalker had spent over twenty years of his life as a Sith Lord slaughtering countless innocents without any form of recompense or remorse. How could the single act of saving his son possibly wash his hands clean of all that blood? Ben wished his grandfather had survived that fateful day so they could have spoken about it, although in all seriousness, even if Anakin had survived, the New Republic would probably have executed him the first chance they got.

All these thoughts and more mulled about in Ben's head as he spent time with Han and Chewie, blasting from one place to another. The months he spent as a smuggler slowly ticked by, and as they drew closer to a whole year, Ben was beginning to feel the need to go back to Mandalore. It had taken a lot longer than he'd thought, but it finally felt like he was getting his mojo back. It was a good feeling.

Of course, it was around this time that everything went to shit. Again.

**000000000**

Han had decided to throw a farewell party for Ben on his homeworld of Corellia. Of course, considering it was just them and Chewie, it wasn't much of a party, but Ben appreciated the thought all the same. After all, not many humans partied as well as Corellians. It was unfortunate that someone had, finally, recognised Ben.

**0000000000**

Gannis Ducain watched as Han Solo, his Wookie co-pilot, and the mysterious second mate known as Tyzen Viszla left the _Millennium Falcon_ and headed for the nearest bar. Well, mysterious no longer, anyway. Ducain had had dealings with Mandalorians in the past, so he knew where the name Viszla came from. How was this relevant? Well, unlike most smugglers, who were all so convinced their own ways were the best, Ducain liked to study the methods of his other "colleagues", to see if he could use them for his own purposes. And studying the methods of other smugglers involved learning about the smugglers themselves. Where they came from, how they became who they were, and the like. Even the smallest details could be important, so Ducain had studied and studied Han Solo until he knew he had everything. And amongst everything was the knowledge that Han Solo's brother-in-law, the legendary Luke Skywalker, had sired a bastard son in a one-night-stand with a Mandalorian woman.

Of course, Ducain knew it could be that Solo had simply hired a second mate who just happened to be from the same planet as the mother of the son of his brother-in-law. In fact, it was probably more likely. Which was why Ducain had followed the three of them to Corellia. To make sure he wasn't making a mistake.

As he watched them, Ducain ran the photograph he had just taken of Tyzen Viszla and scanned it against the 'Wanted' poster of Ben Skywalker he had taken from another planet. The poster said that Skywalker had wounds on the left side of his face and was cleanshaven. Viszla had no wounds and a short beard covering the lower half of his face.

But the scanner Ducain had was scanning other things, too. Like the shape, colour and positioning of Viszla's eyes, which matched up perfectly with Skywalker. As did the shape of his nose, and the positioning of his cheekbones. But to be completely sure, Ducain digitally removed Viszla's beard, and had his scanner analyse what he would look like cleanshaven.

The resulting image matched up perfectly with Skywalker, minus the scars. Ducain wasn't sure how he'd managed to get rid of those, but it was probably Jedi magic. Whatever it was, Ducain was now completely sure he'd found the walking bag of five million credits he'd been looking for. Ducain opened his comlink channel.

'Toursant, Vanver, it's him. You know what to do.'

**000000000**

'So, what do you think will happen when you get back to Mandalore?' Han asked, as they waited for their drinks to arrive.

'Don't know', Ben answered. 'I suppose they'll be expecting me to help them train the army, although after this long, I'm willing to bet they've already fully trained a lot of warriors. I suppose I'll just go back and… lead them to Leia.'

Han winced at the mention of his wife, and Ben wondered if his aunt and uncle had seen each other at all since Jacen's betrayal. Ben could scarcely believe it had been over five years since that happened.

Chewie broke the tension. _Here we go_ , the Wookiee said as their first round of drinks arrived, carried by a Rodian waiter. _You boys ready to get hammered for Tyzen Viszla's last night as one of us?_

'Hell yes', Ben said, as they gulped the drinks down. The second the powerful sedative inserted into the liquids hit their systems, all three of the _Millennium Falcon's_ crew were down for the count. Groggily, Ben felt the Rodian waiter, who he was now beginning to think wasn't a waiter, pick him up and drag him away. Ben tried to struggle, but he was as weak and helpless as a newborn baby. Then everything faded to black.

**00000000**

Ben slowly came to, and he looked around groggily at his surroundings. By the look of things, he was back on the _Falcon_ , in the place where they had their dinner. Ben's insides swirled with relief. Han and Chewie must have rescued him. But then Ben realised he was tied up, his hands bound behind his back by cuffs. Ben tried to use the Force to release himself, but to his surprise, the cuffs didn't come off.

'Trust me, there's no point in it.'

Ben's eyes opened fully as he saw the tall human smiling evilly down at him. There was a Rodian on either side of him, and Ben recognised one of them as the mysterious waiter.

'Those bindings have been designed specifically for Jedi, mister Skywalker', the human went on to say.

Ben realised two things. One, these guys knew who he was. Two, they didn't know he wasn't a Jedi any more. _I have to keep him talking,_ Ben thought, as he began using the shadows he controlled to pick the cuffs' lock.

'Who are you? Why are we here? Where are the others?', he asked.

'Gannis Ducain, at your service', the human replied with a mocking bow. 'And these here are Toursant and Vanver Irving, better known as the Irving Boys', he said, motioning to the Rodians. 'Toursant was your waiter tonight, I believe. As to why we took your ship, well, in case Solo never told you, it's the _Millennium Falcon_. A lot of people will offer a lot of money for this ship. Maybe even as much as the First Order is offering for your capture. Finally, as far as I know, Solo and that walking rug he calls a first mate are still in snoozyland back on Corellia.'

_At least they're not dead_ , Ben thought, as he felt the shadows fiddle around in the lock. _Almost there._ Time for more questions.

'It's been over a year since the First Order put the bounty on my head, and in all that time, you're the first people to recognise me. How'd you do it?'

'I'm so glad you asked that', Ducain's eyes lit up. The man's arrogance overriding his common sense, Ducain pulled out a scanner from his jacket which identified each individual section of a person's face, then went on a long rant. Something about how stupid it was to use a false name which could be linked back to your mother's homeworld. Ben didn't really care, because by then his shadows had picked the lock. Reaching into them and pulling out Nihilus' lightsaber, Ben saw his three captors' faces light up in fear when he ignited the crimson blade. Shoving Ducain back with the Force, Ben focused on the Irving Boys, who were about to fire their blasters at him. With one stroke, Ben severed the weapons, then with another, he severed their heads. As the headless Rodian bodies fell to the floor, Ben saw Ducain running for the cockpit, evidently trying to seal himself off from Ben. _Fat lot of good that'll do you_ , Ben thought, as he used the Force to open the door. Ducain frantically fired at Ben, but Ben stopped the blaster bolt in mid-air, and disintegrated it. At the same time, he yanked the blaster from Ducain's grip with the Force. It was at this point that Ben realised, by looking out the cockpit, that they were in the middle of hyperspace travel.

'If you want to live, you'll tell me where we're going', Ben growled at the helplessly squirming smuggler.

Ducain swallowed, then said 'the Deep Core. But we only just set off. It'll take more than a day to get where we're going. Please, please don't kill me.'

'Who else knows about this?', Ben demanded.

'Nobody, I swear, not even the First Order.'

Ben sensed the smuggler was telling the truth. _No loose ends_ , he thought to himself, and Ducain saw Ben's decision in his eyes.

'No, please-', the smuggler began, as Ben pulled him forward and impaled him on the lightsaber. When the dying gurgles stopped, Ben threw Ducain back with the Force. Too hard. As Ducain's corpse flew, it smashed into the controls, sending up a lot of bright sparks and disrupting the hyperdrive, causing the _Falcon_ to prematurely leave hyperspace.

The effects of a ship prematurely leaving a hyperspace jump essentially consisted of a shockwave ripping through the ship, sometimes powerful enough to rip one apart. Fortunately for Ben, the _Falcon_ was not ripped apart, but the shockwave reverberated through the light freighter and damaged much of the engine. Shoving Ducain's body aside, Ben frantically looked at the ship's monitors and saw the extent of the damage. The fuel tanks had been badly damaged, which meant he wasn't making another jump back to Corellia anytime soon. He needed to get to an inhabited planet quickly, where he could locate and mind-trick a few mechanics into helping him fix the _Falcon_. But when Ben looked on the scanners for inhabited planets, he came up with absolutely nothing. And he realised where he was, as well. The Jakku system, in the Western Reaches of the galaxy's Inner Rim. Better known as the system full of desert planets where the Empire had died. Ben scanned for life forms, and found the largest concentration on Jakku itself. Some place called Niima Outpost. Ben pointed the _Falcon_ in the direction of Niima Outpost, trying to ignore the large concentration of smoke that was pouring from the ship.

**0000000000**

_Holy shit_ , Rey thought to herself from the crashed Star Destroyer as she saw the smoking Corellian freighter drop out of the sky at an incredible speed and head straight in the direction of Niima Outpost. _I hope whoever's piloting that knows what they're doing_.

**000000000**

Had he not been plunging towards the ground at a very dangerous speed, Ben would probably have taken the time to gaze out the window at what was left of the literally hundreds of Imperial and Rebel ships on Jakku's surface. As he gazed at the rapidly approaching Niima Outpost, he saw people already beginning to scatter at what they saw as an approaching death machine. _An approaching death machine whose pilot can use the Force_ , Ben thought, as he reached out and focused on fighting the gravitational pull and bringing the _Falcon_ to a stop, releasing the undercarriage to ensure a gentle landing. It was still a harsher landing than Ben wanted, the undercarriage slamming into the surface with a sharp jolt, but at least he was still alive.

As Ben unhooked himself from the pilot's seatbelt, he took note of his surroundings, and saw outside that a small crowd was gathering, expressions of curiosity on their faces. He also saw three Kyuzo in identical green-and-red uniforms approaching from the side, blaster rifles drawn. The lead Kyuzo shouted out in his native tongue, gesturing to the _Falcon_ 's loading ramp, which Ben immediately lowered. He didn't speak the Kyuzo language, but it was obvious what the uniformed aliens, who appeared to be some kind of law enforcement, were saying. Ben slowly walked out of the cockpit and towards the Kyuzo, who had entered the _Falcon_ and were now pointing their rifles at him. Then they caught sight of the headless Irving Boys.

'I can explain-' Ben began, but the stun bolt had already slammed into his chest.

**00000000**

Unkar Plutt had recognised the ship the second it popped up on his scanners. He couldn't believe it. Maybe the Force was with him, for once. What else could explain the _Millennium Falcon_ suddenly dropping out of the sky and landing right on his doorstep? However it had happened, the universe had provided him with a gift. A gift he wasn't willing to share with anyone, not even his closest confidants. Which was why he was alone in his workshop, along with with the unconscious man who had so generously provided the ship. Plutt had ordered his guards to stand outside.

Plutt realised the young man was waking up, as he groggily said 'this is the second time today I've been in handcuffs.'

**000000000**

As Ben came to, he realised he was once again cuffed, but this time to a chair. Grumbling, he once again took in his surroundings, which appeared to be a metal workshop, and a large Crolute gazing down at him. _Huh_ , Ben thought. Crolutes were a saltwater species. What the hell was one doing on Jakku, of all places? The sandy environment had evidently caused this Crolute's body to sag in a very unappealing manner, making him look a lot like a blobfish.

'Do you know where you are?' the Crolute asked.

'Niima Outpost, on Jakku.'

'Why are you here?'

'Wasn't my choice.'

'Mmm. You know who the others on board your ship are?'

'Gannis Ducain and the Irving Boys. At least, they were.'

'Did you kill them?'

'You find anyone else on that ship?' Ben asked sarcastically. The heat was making him bad-tempered, and he was starting to feel the darkness overtake him.

'Of course I killed them, you fat fool', he snarled.

The Crolute drew himself up angrily. 'Okay boy, you listen to me. My name is Unkar Plutt. I'm the boss here at Niima Outpost, and I'm also the only reason you're still alive.'

Ben had known immediately what Unkar Plutt was, and it wasn't the all-important living deity he obviously perceived himself as. Unkar Plutt was a bully, plain and simple. And in Ben's experience of bullies, some could be persuaded to stop their bullying with a few sweet words, and some only responded to the fist and boot. Plutt clearly fell into the latter category. But Ben calmed his temper, for now. He just needed to regain his strength. He was in ordinary shackles this time, so breaking out of these should be much easier than the previous pair.

'So show some respect', Plutt growled.

'Okay, okay', Ben said, acting like he was meekly surrendering. 'I'm sorry, that was the heat talking. I've just… never been on such a _hot_ planet in years. You know what heat does to a person.'

Plutt relaxed a little as he accepted Ben's excuse. 'Very well', he said. 'But don't ever talk to me like that again, unless you want to lose you head.'

_You're gonna be WISHING I was talking to you like that in a few moments_ , Ben thought, as he started using the Force to loosen the restraints.

Plutt stood up. 'I have one more question. Did you know the ship you just arrived in is the _Millennium Falcon_?'

Ben stiffened, and Plutt noticed.

'Because I do', the hulking Crolute grinned. 'Now, where did you get it?'

'Stole it from Han Solo', Ben lied. 'Me, Ducain, and the Irving Boys, we teamed up. Once we jumped to hyperspace, we started arguing about how much everyone would get paid for stealing it. Everyone wanted more than everyone else. There was a fight and, well, I was the last man standing. But the controls got damaged in the process, which led to the ship pulling out of hyperspace, which led to the rest of the ship being damaged, which lead to me being forced to land here.'

Han had once told Ben that if you ever had to lie to someone, throwing in some of the truth would make it more authentic. He could see what Plutt was thinking, though. He was thinking about shooting Ben where he sat and claiming the _Falcon_ for himself.

'You don't need to kill me', Ben said, calling on the Force to manipulate Plutt's mind.

The Crolute's eyes turned blank. 'I don't need to kill you', he replied, tonelessly.

'You don't want the _Falcon._ It's a useless pile of junk.'

'I don't want the _Falcon._ It's a useless pile of junk.'

Ben relaxed his hold on Plutt's mind. Now that problem had been taken care of, he could ask what Plutt's business here actually was.

'What is the purpose of Niima Outpost, anyway?' he asked the Crolute, as the latter's eyes cleared.

'There is much profit to be found in the Graveyard of Giants. My scavengers go out daily and bring back what they can find. I pay them in food and water. The amount of food and water they get depends on the quality of what they bring back.'

Plutt motioned to a mass of non-perishable ration packs off to the sides. Ben recognised them as polystarch and veg-meat. Ben had tried both in the past, and they were near the top of his list of "Most disgusting foods he'd ever tried".

'Where did you get those?'

'Why, the Graveyard of Giants, of course', Plutt said with a nasty grin.

Ben tasted bile in the back of his throat. This greedy blobfish was paying his subordinates in food that had probably expired years, if not decades ago.

'If you don't mind me asking, why haven't your scavengers tried to kill you yet?'

Plutt gave a loud belly-laugh. 'I _run_ this place. I control all the muscle in this region. Those Kyuzo who brought you here? They're the local police force, and they work _for me_. As will you if you want to get out of here.'

'I beg your pardon?', Ben asked.

'The way I see it, the only way for you to get off Jakku- and you clearly want to get off Jakku- is for you to repair the _Falcon_ and fly out of here. For you to repair the _Falcon_ , you will need spare parts. Only spare parts around here can be found in the Graveyard of Giants. Repairing your ship will take time, and in order to survive, you will need food and water. And the only sources of food and water in these parts come from me.'

'I have my own food and water', Ben replied. During his time as a smuggler, one of his jobs had been to make sure the supplies of food would be enough to last for months in the event of an emergency, and the hydrogenerator they kept on board the _Falcon_ had been (illegally) modified to suck moisture and form clean water out of any environment.

Plutt shook his head at the news. 'That's not the way things go around here. The men under my command will impound any food and water you have.'

'What happens if I say "no" to that?' Ben asked.

'You die. Here and now,' Plutt said, pulling a blaster out from a holster. Ben immediately used the Force to knock the blaster aside, then jumped out, free from the shackles. Once again pulling Nihilus' lightsaber from the shadows and igniting it, Ben pointed the crimson blade at Plutt's throat. The Crolute immediately held his hands up in appearance of surrender, but Ben could tell he was about to call for his guards, so he used his free hand to dangle Plutt off the ground by his neck, choking him with the Force.

'You're… Jedi?' Plutt managed to gasp out.

'Are you colour-blind, or just that stupid?' Ben asked, referring to his lightsaber. He allowed his eyes to glow yellow, and he felt Plutt's fear emanating from him.

'So here's what's _really_ going to happen. You or any of your men try to take my stuff, you die. You or any of your men come near me without my permission, you die. Hell, if you or any of your men so much as irritate me, you die. And I guarantee you, Unkar Plutt, the last thing you ever see will be your precious Niima Outpost burnt to ash.'

Ben allowed the Crolute to drop to the floor, gasping, but he did not deactivate the lightsaber.

'If you don't want any of that to happen', Ben continued, 'I suggest you let me do what I want, when I want to do it. If I ever come to you asking for something, trust me, you'll want to give it to me. And I _very strongly_ advise you to pass the message to leave me alone on to all your thugs. Also, just so you know, if you double-cross me, I _will_ be able to sense it.'

That last part was a lie, but Ben knew Plutt likely wouldn't know that. After all, the guy had thought Jedi carried red lightsabers.

'We clear?' Ben asked, as the Crolute slowly raised himself to a kneeling position.

'Yes', Plutt said, his voice sounding hoarse.

'Good', Ben replied. He deactivated the lightsaber, and left the workshop.

**00000000**

One look at the inside of the _Falcon_ , and Ben knew there was no way he'd even be able to get her off the ground. The fuel containers would have to be replaced, the hyperdrive was busted, and there were about a dozen other things wrong with the engine alone. On top of all this was the glaring fact that the _Falcon_ was no longer a new ship, which meant that even if Ben managed to repair everything that was damaged, she might not fly anyway. That was (some of) the bad news. The good news was the food supplies and hydrogenerator were amongst the few things that hadn't been damaged. Ben was also delighted to find that although his peach plant had fallen off its shelf in the crash, the pot hadn't broken and most of the soil was still inside. The rest of the bad news, meanwhile, was that Ben didn't know how to fix pretty much everything that was broken. Han had spent many hours showing him how the _Falcon_ worked, and how to repair parts of the ship in the event they were broken. Unfortunately, they hadn't covered how to fix anything in the event of it being too twisted and mangled to be fixed, with no replacement parts in sight. In a moment of desperation, Ben tried using the Force to put all the broken parts together, but too many things were simply too busted up for repair. Ben's only real option was to look in this Graveyard of Giants Plutt had talked about, so he left the _Falcon_ , mind-tricked a random junkyard resident into giving him a speeder bike, and went looking for it.

At the sight of the countless Imperial and Rebel ships lying half-buried in the sand, Ben knew immediately he could search for years on end and not find any of the pieces he was looking to replace, even if he used the Force. Which was a problem, because the amount of food Ben had in the _Falcon_ was only enough to last six months. And that was if he _really_ stretched it out. There was no question about it- Ben needed help. From one of Plutt's scavengers.

The real question was, who? Who amongst Plutt's scavengers was very good at finding things, had decent mechanical skills, wouldn't stab him in the back and grab the _Falcon_ the moment it was finished, and was willing to accept real food and water as payment? Naturally, Ben expected all the scavengers to fulfill the last criteria, considering what Plutt was feeding them, but that was besides the point. As the day dragged on, Ben watched from the _Falcon's_ cockpit as the scavengers tiredly dragged themselves in from their days' work. Ben snacked on canned meat and water as he used the Force to probe the scavengers' minds and find out who they were, so gently they'd never notice it. Ben was disappointed over and over again by what he saw. Some were completely terrible at finding things, some couldn't tell a piston from an accelerator, and pretty much all of them were desperate enough to leave Jakku by stealing the _Falcon_. Ben was about to give up hope when he saw someone… different. A human girl with dark brown hair tied up in three small buns, who looked like she was in her early twenties. She was wrapped in dusty clothes that hid most of her body, but even then, and even from a distance, Ben could tell she was something of a looker. He felt a twitch in his lower regions. God, he really needed to get back out there if he was attracted to the first pretty face he saw on a world he'd just arrived on, even if he could already tell said world was severely lacking in pretty faces.

To Ben's delight, the girl was hauling a sack of scavenged parts far bigger than any of the others he'd already seen. Good at finding things- check.

Carefully probing through her mind, Ben saw she had built the rust-red speeder she'd arrived on by herself. Decent mechanical skills- check.

Ben also saw, for some reason, the girl didn't _want_ to leave Jakku. This confused him, because why on earth wouldn't she? He decided he would find out later. Wouldn't steal the _Falcon_ once it was fixed- check.

Ben didn't have to look into the girl's mind to see she didn't like the food and decidedly filthy water Plutt gave her as payment. Willing to accept decent food and water as payment- check.

Satisfied, Ben knew the girl was probably too tired at the end of her long day to take any offer he made seriously, so Ben opened the _Falcon_ 's loading ramp just a crack and, using the Force, sent one of the same fingernail-sized tracking devices he'd used as a Ghost out through the gap, attaching it to the underside of the girl's speeder. Then he decided he'd turn in for the evening. He'd find the girl tomorrow, when she was in the element of her work. Just before he turned on the HoloNet (another illegal modification ensured he'd get reception anywhere), Ben decided to shave his beard. It would serve him better in the Jakku heat if he was cleanshaven, and he doubted that the people on an isolated world like Jakku would have even heard of Ben Skywalker, much less seen a Wanted poster of him.

**000000000**

Rey tiredly accepted the ration pack and unclear water as payment. Throughout the transaction, she noticed that Unkar Plutt kept shooting nervous glances towards a ship she hadn't seen before. No, she _had_ seen it before. It was, without a doubt, the Corellian light cruiser she had seen earlier that day plunging to the ground at about a million miles an hour.

Rey stared. She'd been half-expecting to find the ship smashed to bits nearby, so the fact that it looked like it had actually made a smooth landing was quite a shock. And why weren't any of the blobfish's thugs poking around it? Usually when it came to new arrivals with ships of their own, those cockroaches would spend the day the new arrivals came turning the ships inside out, looking for food, water, weapons, basically everything their boss wanted while the ship's owners could only watch helplessly. Yet, Rey could see Plutt's thugs at a safe distance from the ship, eyeing it like it was going to explode. And why was Plutt so nervous about it, anyway? No, Rey decided. Corellian light cruisers didn't scare Unkar Plutt. He was scared of whoever owned the ship. Whoever it was, if Unkar Plutt kept his distance from them, Rey probably should too.

With that thought in her mind, Rey got on her speeder, and drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Be honest, do you like what I'm doing with the story? Please leave reviews and let me know!


	13. First Meeting

Just before he went to sleep, Ben set about trying to fix the _Falcon's_ air conditioning systems. Jakku's night air was actually quite cold, but Ben had absolutely no intention of working in the blazing heat of the day when he and the scavenger girl were fixing the _Falcon_. Ben was absolutely certain she'd say yes when she saw what he'd offer as payment. And if she didn't, he could always use a mind trick. To Ben's relief, the air conditioning was only slightly damaged, and easily reparable.

The following morning, Ben saw from the pad which was connected to his tracker that the girl was already in the Graveyard of Giants.

 _Early riser, this one_ , Ben thought, as he set out armed with the blaster he'd had as a Ghost- and a sack full of his tastiest food and drinks. He'd use the speeder bike he'd "borrowed" yesterday. He'd seen that the resident he'd taken it off had three others, which was why Ben had targeted him specifically. As he set off to where the girl's speeder bike was located, Ben dearly hoped that from what he'd seen of the girl yesterday, she wasn't as beautiful up close as she'd been from afar.

He couldn't afford to be distracted right now.

**00000000000**

Rey slowly searched through the destroyed Imperial corvette, looking through, as she had countless times before, to see what parts were worth taking back. She thought she heard the slight buzzing of a speeder bike outside, but she shrugged it off. Every other scavenger knew what her speeder looked like, and her speeder was right outside the ship. Any idiot would know she was inside- and Plutt was very clear in his instructions: nobody disturbed the work of his best scavenger.

Rey knew Plutt's motivations behind this were purely self-interest, but she was grateful for the quiet. On Jakku, it was better to work alone anyway. This world had a habit of killing people just for the hell of it, and it was best not to form attachments.

Rey retrieved what looked like decent parts and walked outside. Once she did, she saw something that shouldn't have been happening. One, there was a speeder bike parked only a few metres away from hers. Two, the owner of said bike had their back to her, and also had their hands running along under her speeder. Rey sighed. Scavengers stole from each other all the time, herself included, but she couldn't allow this to happen. Rey slowly put down her bag of salvaged parts, and quietly crept along the desert sand towards the thief, readying her quarterstaff. Rey doubted that the thief was stealing from her for personal reasons, so she'd settle for a quick blow to the head and a stern warning not to do it again. Then as Rey swung, the thief rolled out of the way. Rey's quarterstaff smashed into her speeder, sending vibrations along her arms that caused her to grunt in pain from the jarring blow. Then as the thief swung around to face her, Rey got her first look at his face- and was thoroughly taken aback.

 _Oh god, he's hot_ , Rey inwardly groaned as she readied for a fight. Why did he have to be hot?

**000000000**

After about an hour on the bike, Ben found the girl's speeder right outside an Imperial corvette. He could sense her working inside, so he waited for her to come out. While he did so, he busied himself with taking a look at her speeder. He remembered that she'd built it herself, and was very impressed with what he found. It looked like she'd taken apart several speeders and swoop bikes and used it to build the one-of-a-kind transport she now rode in. Ben was suddenly reminded of the tracker he'd placed under the bike, and set about removing it. If he was going to work with this girl, he'd prefer it if she didn't know how he'd found her. As Ben worked on disconnecting the tracker, he suddenly realised the girl was sneaking up behind him.

Ben cursed himself for being distracted, but at the same time, he hadn't had a decent fight in ages. As the girl swung, Ben's training kicked in and he rolled out of the way, causing the quarterstaff the girl was using as a weapon to smash into her speeder bike. Ben rose to face the girl as she readied a fighting position, pointing her weapon at him.

'Easy', Ben said, holding up his hands. 'I'm not here to fight.'

'Shouldn't have tried stealing from me, then', the girl replied. Her voice was muffled from the mask she wore on her face, but Ben could practically _hear_ the beauty in it.

 _Keep your head in the fight_ , Boba's stern voice rolled around in his head.

The girl whirled her quarterstaff around at lightning speed. She was a decent fighter, that was for sure. But Ben had been trained as a Jedi. And that was before he spent the last ten years of his life killing far more dangerous opponents than a scavenger with a stick, so he evaded her blows easily. It was always better to evade than block, as the latter drained you of energy much faster. Then as the girl tried swinging at him on his left side, Ben saw it was a feint. He pretended to fall for it, then as the girl suddenly changed direction and swung her staff towards his right, Ben moved in that direction and absorbed the blow, trapping the staff between his right arm and body. He sensed the girl's surprise, and he used the surprise to wrench the staff from her grip and throw it away.

'You wanna go hand-to-hand now, or do you want to listen to what I have to say?' Ben asked. He was enjoying this, but he remembered it was always better to end a fight at the earliest possible opportunity. He could have snapped the girl's neck like a twig before she attempted her first blow, but he needed her alive for what came next.

**00000000**

From behind her face mask and goggles, Rey glowered at the handsome man, who was smirking, but she knew, just from his casual fighting stance, that any attempt at hand-to-hand combat would end with him as the victor. She'd seen from the second they began fighting that he'd been trained at some point, probably as a soldier, while Rey had been self-taught. She was good enough to fend off Unkar Plutt's thugs, but this thief was a different kind of fighter all together. Rey had also felt his raw strength when he'd ripped her staff from his grip, and the speed with which he'd moved to do so was enough to convince her that if he wanted her dead, she'd be dead.

She slowly held her hands up in surrender, and set about taking off the mask and goggles she wore. As they came off, and she revealed her face to him, she saw the man's expression change from a smirk to something else. Something like… lust?

'What do you have to say?' Rey asked.

'I'm here to offer you a job', the man replied. His voice was decidedly masculine, but soft and pleasant, and Rey suddenly realised although he was older than her, he wasn't much older.

'I already have a job', she said, motioning towards the parts in her speeder she'd already collected.

'Trust me, you'll like mine better.'

'What is this job, anyway?', Rey asked. She couldn't help it; he'd piqued her curiosity.

'My ship had, well, a heavy landing yesterday. Let's just say a whole lot of parts inside are damaged beyond repair, and if I'm ever going to leave this place, I'll need new ones.'

'And you want me to find the parts', Rey summed up.

'Yes. And help me fix the ship, if you want.'

As Rey considered it, a sudden thought struck her.

'You didn't by any chance arrive here in a Corellian light cruiser, did you?'

As the young man nodded in confirmation, Rey's confusion grew. Why would Plutt be scared of him? Sure, this guy was a dangerous fighter from what she'd seen, but Plutt had the numbers. Maybe he wasn't alone.

'Is there anyone else on your ship?' she asked.

The young man shook his head.

'Then why were the blobfish's thugs leaving you alone?' she asked, before realising what she'd just called her boss, her mouth clamping shut. But the man only smiled in response.

'You see the resemblance too?' he laughed, and there was something about it that made Rey laugh, too, and relax a little.

'As to why they're leaving me alone, well, I'll answer that question if you accept my offer,' he continued.

'You're basically asking me to do the same job I already do. What makes you say I'll like yours better?' Rey asked.

'Well, that question I _can_ answer', the young man replied as he strode over to his own speeder bike, where a sack had been placed. He pulled out what looked like a small gold-and-pink orb, and handed it to Rey.

Rey eyed it. 'What is this?' she asked. Although the orb had a slightly furry surface, the syrupy scent coming from it was saliva-inducing.

'It's called a peach. It's a fruit from Concordia.'

As Rey still looked confused, the man smiled and said, softly, 'you eat them'.

Rey had been hoping he'd say that, and as she took a bite, her mouth suddenly _exploded_ with flavour, and she dug in. The sweet juice coming from the peach was pouring down Rey's chin and over her gloved hands, but she didn't care. Before she knew it, the only thing left of the peach was a hard centre, which the man held out his hand to take back from her. Rey quietly gave him the centre. She wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but she knew that if the job this man was offering involved eating food like that, as opposed to the revolting stuff Plutt provided, the only answer she could provide was yes.

Usually, Rey would say no on the basis that Plutt and his thugs would hunt them down, but she remembered the look in Plutt's eyes from yesterday. The junk boss who had made her life only just liveable for the last fifteen years was scared of this man, and Rey realised she was far too pleased about that to care who this man was. This guy could be the worst monster who ever lived, and as long as he kept providing food like the sweet taste of heaven she'd just been given, Rey would fix anything he asked her to fix. As she wiped her sticky mouth with the back of her gloves, she realised the man was looking at her strangely.

'What?', she asked.

'When was the last time you ate something that _didn't_ come from those ration packs Plutt provides?', the man asked.

Rey hesitated. 'I… I don't know', she admitted. She realised that she was trembling slightly, and she knew why. With the fruit this man had provided, he'd shown her a glimpse of a life where you didn't have to struggle every single day just to _survive_. Rey suddenly realised that if she took the job this man was offering, she would be drawn dangerously close to wanting a life instead of just focusing on surviving. On Jakku, you didn't survive by wanting things you couldn't have, and while Rey didn't want to say no to better rewards for doing a job she already knew how to do, her head was telling her to refuse the offer.

But by eating the peach, a small, selfish part of herself that Rey had kept locked away for years had finally been released, and she felt a swell of anger. She'd worked hard at her job for years on end and had never gotten so much as a 'thank you' for it. She'd only gotten ration packs she already knew contained expired food and dirty water filled with decontaminating drugs to prevent sickness. It suddenly dawned on Rey that this man may have clean water too.

'Do you have water?', she asked.

The man smiled, reached into the sack, and pulled out a canteen, along with two more peaches.

 _He thinks ahead,_ Rey thought, as she seized the bottle and drank hesitantly. To her delight, the water was cold, and fresh, and before she knew it she'd drained half the bottle. Rey then took the peaches, but didn't eat them.

Rey gazed at the delicious fruit, and with that, her decision was made. Why _shouldn't_ she seize what would probably be the only chance she'd get at fair compensation?

'Okay, I'll help you', she said, and the man's face lit up.

'I'm Tyzen, by the way. Tyzen Viszla,' he said, extending his hand.

Rey shook it. 'I'm Rey.'

'Rey…'

'Just Rey.' She started digging into the peaches. 'You got any other kinds of food?' she asked, her mouth full.

Tyzen smiled. He had a nice, easy-going smile, Rey realised. It made her want to smile back.

'Follow me and I'll show you', he said, climbing onto his speeder.

**000000000**

Ben had known Rey was pretty from looking at her from afar. When he saw her up close, he'd realised he was wrong. She may not believe it, but Rey was amongst the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen. The way she carried herself, with strength and grace, combined with the vulnerability he'd seen in her beautiful hazel eyes when she admitted she didn't know anything but the taste of expired rations, made for an absolutely… _gorgeous_ combination. But it wasn't just that. Rey was smart, too. Without any sort of prompting, she'd figured out how he'd gotten here, and that he was no ordinary Niima Outpost resident. Of course, Ben couldn't tell her who he really was. Although he'd only just properly met Rey, he realised he already wanted to protect her from the danger that would come from telling her who he was, although he figured she wouldn't see it that way.

The best case scenario, Ben figured, was that they took a few weeks, maybe a month, to fix the _Falcon_. Then he'd leave, and he'd never see Rey again. From what he sensed of their first face-to-face meeting, he hadn't been wrong when he'd looked through her mind and felt her reluctance to leave Jakku. Curiosity had always been a sin of Ben's, and he wanted to figure out what it was that was making her stay.

If he did, maybe he could convince her to leave Jakku with him.

 _Woah_ , the more practical part of Ben interrupted. _Slow down, idiot. You only just met this girl. You don't even know her. She doesn't even know you._

On top of this sound advice, there was the fact that if he and Rey spent enough time together, she may not ever guess who he really was, but she'd figure out he wasn't who he said he was. Han had warned Ben.

_Given enough time, women always figure out the truth. Always._

The smuggler's words reverberated through Ben's mind the whole hour's ride back to Niima Outpost.

**0000000000**

Rey was immediately appreciative of the blast of cool air that hit her the moment she stepped inside Tyzen's ship. Usually, the only coolness you would find in Jakku's daytime were in patches of shade, so the air conditioning was a welcome change.

Rey gazed around the light freighter as she took in the extent of the damage. It was bad, that was for sure. The fuel containers, control panel, hyperdrive and engine were badly broken, and definitely beyond repair, as Tyzen Viszla had said. But there was nothing that was beyond replacement. Rey was confident that, given enough time, she could find the parts he wanted and fix help him fix the ship. But there were other things she hadn't considered, that she was considering now.

'If the other scavengers figure out you're giving me contraband food as payment, they'll be all over this ship like… well, scavengers.'

Tyzen shrugged. 'I won't tell them if you won't. And if they find out anyway, well, you let me worry about that.'

There was something in his tone that warned Rey not to pry any further as to how he would deal with that problem.

'Well, I'm glad to tell you,' Rey said, as Tyzen helped her up from where she'd been inspecting the engine below deck, 'that everything broken can be replaced.'

'But,' she continued, 'you did say that if I'd help you, you'd tell me why Plutt and his lackeys are treating you like you're their worst nightmare come to life.'

She'd seen it in the short distance they'd walked from their speeders outside to the ship; Plutt's thugs had taken one look at Tyzen and positively fled.

Tyzen looked at her, like he was wrestling with a decision. Then he sighed.

'Alright, Rey', he breathed. 'I guess a deal's a deal.'

He motioned for Rey to sit on the lounge in the ship's circular dining room, and she did so. Tyzen sat down besides her.

'Before I tell you, I just wanna warn you, you may not like me very much by the time I'm finished.'

Rey nodded her understanding, and Tyzen started talking.

**0000000000**

Ben had been preparing his cover story ever since Rey had begun inspecting the damage on the _Falcon_. He didn't like the idea of lying to her, but there was no way she'd believe the truth.

'I was born on Mandalore. You ever heard of it?'

'Yeah. Aren't you guys all warriors or something?'

'There's a little bit more to it than that', Ben said, 'but yes, we're very much a warrior-culture. Or at least, we were. Mandalore fought for the Rebellion in the Galactic Civil War, but when the war ended, Mandalore signed a treaty with the New Republic that involved the dissolving of our armies and armed forces. Some of us, however, would continue the warrior tradition by serving the Governess as bodyguards.'

'The Governess?'

'The leader of Mandalore and our representative in the Senate. Anyway, I was one of the Governess' bodyguards.'

'You seemed like you'd been trained to me during our… encounter.'

Ben smiled in response to her describing their fight.

'Be honest with me', Rey said. 'I never stood a chance, did I?'

Ben shook his head. 'Sorry. You're good at fighting, I can tell, but fighting and killing are two different things. And I've been trained to kill since I was little.'

Rey nodded in understanding. 'That doesn't explain why Plutt and his guys are so scared of you, though. I mean, you might be an actual fighter, unlike them, but they outnumber you.'

'I'm getting to that. About five years ago, these people showed up. Said they were from an organisation called the First Order.'

'Oh, I've heard about them,' Rey said. 'Don't they want to bring the Empire back, or something?'

'Something like that, yeah. They tried to convince the Governess to lend her support to them instead of the Republic. Said the Republic was corrupt, and together, Mandalore and the First Order would finally bring peace back to the galaxy. We thought it was all a bunch of hot air at first, but then they showed us how powerful they really were. They actually have tens of thousands of soldiers in their armies- maybe even hundreds of thousands.'

Rey was visibly stunned. 'Did your Governess tell the Senate?'

'Yeah. They said that she was just looking for a way to restore Mandalore to its warrior ways, and that as long as the First Order followed the Galactic Concordance, the Republic would do nothing to stop them.'

'Doesn't raising an army of tens, possibly hundreds of thousands violate the Galactic Concordance?'

'Yep', Ben replied. 'Not that the Republic ever bothered about that. Anyway, after the Governess received the First Order, she made a decision.'

'That she would join the First Order? Wait, did you become one of them? Is _that_ why Plutt's scared of you?'

'No', Ben replied. While he was lying though his teeth to Rey, he would not lie in that way. 'The Governess' decision was that from that moment on, she would be dedicated to the fight in bringing the First Order down.'

'So she joined the Resistance?'

'Officially, no. She refused the First Order's offer, and set about playing the role of a pacifist within the Senate. Unofficially, though, she organised a strikeforce that would be allied to the Resistance, made up of already-trained warriors like me.'

'So, you were part of a secret strikeforce?'

'Not just a part of it. I was the leader.'

Ignoring Rey's look of surprise, Ben continued. 'We spent a year being trained by former warriors of Mandalore in espionage, sabotage, extraction and assassination. When we got started… well, I'd be lying if I said we weren't more like a death squad than a strike force. In summary, we basically spent three years killing members of the First Order. It was dirty, bloody work, but that's what it takes to win a war.'

'Anyway', Ben went, 'A little over a year ago, one of our missions went about as wrong as a mission can go. Almost half my team was killed. The rest of us got out, but in the process, my identity was discovered. I was placed near the top of the First Order's most wanted list, with a huge reward on my head, so I had to leave Mandalore. I spent the last year as part of a smuggler's crew- we're actually on one of their ships now. A couple of days ago, my identity was discovered by these people, who stole this ship and took me with them. I broke free and killed them, but in the process, we left a hyperspace jump prematurely, which damaged the ship. Niima Outpost was the closest inhabited place, so I landed here.'

**00000000**

Rey was struggling to take it all in. Tyzen had been the leader of a death squad? No wonder he'd beaten her so easily. He probably could have snapped her in two if he'd wanted. Then another thought occurred to her.

'Why'd you ask me, of all the scavengers here, to help you? And how did you find me in the Graveyard, anyway?' she asked.

'Well', Tyzen replied. 'I was watching, yesterday, when I saw you come in. The second I saw how much stuff you had, I knew you were the right person to find the parts I need.'

'Then', Tyzen continued, now looking slightly sheepish, 'I may have… placed a tracking device on your speeder when you were getting your food. I was in the process of taking it off when I heard you sneaking up behind me.'

Rey couldn't help feeling a little violated. 'Is your tracker still on my speeder?'

'No', Tyzen said. He pulled a small black box out of his pocket that was the size of Rey's little fingernail.

'That's a tracking device?' Rey asked, surprised. 'I thought it would be… bigger.'

'If it was bigger, you probably would have noticed it', Tyzen said, putting the device back in his pocket.

There was a pause, then Rey asked 'how old are you?'

'Twenty-seven. I'll be twenty-eight in a month, though.'

'You're only seven years older than me, and you were the leader of a death squad?'

Tyzen shrugged. 'You don't have to believe me, but it's the truth.'

The funny thing was, Rey did believe him. She'd learned to spot liars over the years, and Tyzen, incredible as it seemed, wasn't lying.

'Okay, but that still doesn't answer why Plutt-'

'Plutt recognised me from the wanted posters and tried to claim the bounty on me. I… persuaded him not to.'

'How?'

'I said that if he did, I'd burn Niima Outpost down.'

Strangely enough, although Rey could tell Tyzen wasn't joking about that, she could also tell he wasn't a bad person. He'd had a look in his eyes when he talked about how he fought against the First Order. It was the look of someone who was broken inside, and hurting, but she didn't dare to say that out loud. She didn't know him that well, and there was no telling how he'd react.

And honestly, the fact that he had fought against the First Order was enough for Rey. She had heard the stories of the Empire, and if the First Order was trying to bring Imperial ideals back, then anyone who chose to make a stand against them, against tyranny, deserved respect in her mind.

'Thanks for telling me your story', she said. 'I… I've never really had friends, so I don't know what it's like to lose them.'

'They weren't just my friends', Tyzen said. 'The bonds you forge with those you fight besides… let's just say that, by the end, they were more of a family to me than my own blood.'

He paused, and Rey could swear she saw a glimmer of wetness in his eyes. 'Are you alright?', she asked gently.

'I'm fine', Tyzen said, blinking hurriedly. Gazing at Rey, he said 'um, I appreciate you listening to what I had to say, but I didn't actually mean to tell you that much. I… we'd be better off if you didn't tell anyone what I just told you.'

'Of course', Rey said. Trying to lighten the mood, she said 'you don't by any chance have scars from your time fighting?'

She regretted the words the moment they left her mouth, but Tyzen merely smiled sadly.

'Yes', he said softly. 'Just… please don't scream.'

Before Rey could answer what he meant by that, Tyzen had pressed the side of his head, and Rey was horrified to see scars suddenly appear on the left side of his face. They looked like… burn marks.

'Wha… wha…' she tried to talk, but somehow couldn't.

Tyzen pressed the side of his head again, and the scars disappeared.

'There are a lot more on the parts you can't see', he whispered.

'How did you…'

'One of my friends was… well, a genius', Tyzen explained. 'He created a device that allowed me to hide them. The device is… well…'

He pointed to the place on his head where he'd pressed down, and Rey saw a small, straight scar there.

'It makes things easier to forget', Tyzen said.

Rey felt a strange desire to weep out of sympathy. She thought she had suffered in her time on Jakku, but this man… this man had suffered so much he couldn't even look in a mirror without being reminded of how he'd suffered. She couldn't blame him for wanting to hide who he had been, even from himself.

**00000000**

Ben had been expecting to see the horror on Rey's face when he revealed how he really looked. He had not, however, been prepared for the look of sorrow that had come afterwards. Ben had genuinely not been meaning to tell Rey as much as he had, but the truth was, it had felt so good to talk about some of the worst parts of his life, even though it was to someone who was practically a stranger, even if it had only been mostly true, that he hadn't been able to stop himself. As he gazed at Rey, he wondered briefly if he should ask her how she came to be on Jakku, but realised her story may be even worse. He decided he would lighten the mood. It was getting late in the day, and he had an idea.

'Look, it's getting dark,' he said, 'how about I cook us up some dinner, and then we'll discuss what needs to be done about the ship.'

'You don't have to-' Rey started.

'No, no, I insist. Besides, you're one of the few people who didn't actually scream when they saw how I really look. That deserves a reward in my opinion,' Ben grinned, and Rey hesitantly smiled back. He was telling the truth about that, too. He remembered how he'd revealed his scars to the girls he'd slept with in his time as a smuggler, and their subsequent screams of horror. It had been tough, but seeing actual sorrow for a change, seeing _pity_ in Rey's eyes… somehow made it even harder to resist the charms she was giving off, whether she knew it or not.

'I just wanna know, when's the last time you had a shower?' he asked Rey.

'Um… never', said Rey, her face turning slightly pink. 'The occasional bath, when I could… you know, make deals for one, but…'

'It's okay', Ben soothed. 'I didn't mean you stank or anything. I'm just saying, I do have a shower on my ship. And you look like you could use one. Why don't you go freshen up while I get dinner ready?'

**000000000**

Rey said yes. Of course she said yes. How couldn't she? Even though she'd only met Tyzen a few hours ago, she was already finding it hard to resist him. Comfort was a hard thing to come by on Jakku, and Tyzen was offering it in spades.

As she stepped under the showerhead, Rey's mind wandered back to the scars she'd seen appear on Tyzen's face. She had wanted to scream at the sight of them, then seen the sorrowful look in his eyes and felt ashamed of herself. He could not help how he looked, so why should she be scared of him for it? And even with the scars, Rey had seen far uglier people than Tyzen. Also, strange as it seemed, even though she was starting to get an idea of how dangerous Tyzen could be if he wanted, she already felt completely at ease with him, as if something deep down was telling her that she was safe in his presence. Rey had felt like that only once before.

Four years ago, when Rey was sixteen, a family had come to Jakku for trading with Unkar Plutt. The family had been made up of two parents and a son, and the son, who was twenty at the time, had been tall and squared-jawed, with eyes and hair of the deepest chocolate brown. His name was Kale Silthen, and Rey's sixteen-year-old self had fallen for him on the spot. He'd taken her virginity from her, then they'd spent the next two weeks sneaking off to have sex in whatever spot they chose away from prying eyes. After those two weeks it was time for Kale and his family to leave, and he'd promised to come back for Rey as soon as he could. For months after that, she'd convinced herself that he would, but then realised what a fool she was. He'd only wanted her for her body, and she'd cursed herself for not realising it sooner.

After then, Rey had sworn she would never let another man touch her in _that_ way, but the memory of wrapping herself in Kale's warm, strong body had haunted her dreams ever since. Even if Rey had hardened her heart, she still missed that feeling of intimacy. And despite her brain screaming at her to be more practical, every moment she had spent with Tyzen so far was reawakening her desire to… _be_ with someone. Maybe not Tyzen himself, but _someone_.

As Rey left the shower and towelled herself off, marvelling at how she had been able to adjust the temperature of the water, she noticed Tyzen had placed a robe on the bathroom sink. Rey had been worried that putting her dirty clothes back on would ruin the unfamiliar yet nice feeling of freshness she was experiencing, so she was grateful for the change. She still put her underwear on underneath, though. Much as she was attracted to Tyzen, she wasn't ready to jump his bones. Not yet, anyway.

Rey suddenly froze. Where had "not yet" come from? She'd only just met Tyzen, and she was already thinking about when they would fall into bed together? For the first time, a thought occurred to Rey that Tyzen's idea of dinner may just be an excuse to see her naked.

 _Well if that's the case, prepare to be disappointed_ , Rey thought as she left the bathroom. Then the smell of dinner hit her, and she felt herself go weak at the knees.

**00000000**

At the sight of a fresh, clean Rey, with her hair down, wearing _his_ bathrobe, Ben felt a definite twitch down below. God, maybe dinner with her wasn't such a great idea. At the moment, the very sight of her with wet hair, clean as a daisy, her nose twitching in a simply adorable way as she smelled the meat and vegetables he'd been cooking, meant that it was all Ben could do not to rip his robe off this beautiful girl and take her like an animal in heat.

**00000000**

So this was what it felt like to live, Rey thought, as she gazed at the meal Tyzen had made for them. Kale hadn't cooked for her. Of course, she had never actually seen him eat, but still, it only sent him down in a way that made Tyzen shoot up.

'What is it?' she asked in a voice that came out far timider than she wanted it too, referring to the food.

'Prime-cut fillet of shaak-steak from Naboo, complete with vegetables from planets I can't even pronounce', Tyzen smiled.

Rey hesitantly cut herself a piece of the meat, and popped it into her mouth. The moment she bit down, something that sounded like ' _urrrrghhh'_ came out as the flavour exploded in her mouth, just as the peaches had done earlier. Rey actually thought she might be drooling as her tastebuds, for so long dumbed down to accommodate for expired polystarch and veg-meat, were suddenly worked overtime to process the sheer deliciousness of what Rey was chewing on.

'You look like you needed that', Tyzen said, smiling at her in such a soft, tender way that it was all Rey could do not to crawl across the table and fuck him in his chair for what, over the course of a few short hours, he had done for her, which was a lot more than a lot of people had done for her. But for now, Rey was realising just how hungry she was, so she busied herself with eating. She was literally licking her plate clean when she realised she was probably embarrassing herself in front of Tyzen, and she looked up self-consciously, but he just smiled and offered her another cut of meat, which Rey accepted with gratitude.

By the time that was done, Rey was feeling full and content, neither of which she felt very often individually, and never together. Fortunately, feeling so cleared Rey's mind and dumbed down the hunger she had been feeling for Tyzen. After dinner was done, they briefly talked about what parts Rey would look for tomorrow to bring in to begin official work on the ship. Then it was a matter of Rey changing back into her clothes, rearranging her hair, and heading home for the night. As Tyzen walked Rey back to her speeder, she had a thought. A crazy thought, but it might end the night on a positive note.

'Can I see them again?', she asked, gesturing towards Tyzen's face.

Tyzen visibly hesitated, then pressed on the side of his head. As the scars appeared on his face again, Rey felt no swells of horror, only sadness. Someone had marked this beautiful man, and although it may have been wartime circumstances, Rey still hated them for it. She lifted her fingers to run them over Tyzen's scars, and he initially flinched back in surprise, then brought his head forward. As she softly ran her fingers over Tyzen's face, Rey leaned into him.

She'd only meant to kiss his scarred cheek, but before she knew it, Tyzen's lips were on hers and they were kissing hungrily, her hands winding around his neck while his settled around her waist. He was gentle and careful in a way that Kale had never been, and Rey almost started crying. After living the harsh life of a Jakku scavenger for so long, this… this was what Rey had craved. Gentleness.

They slowly broke apart, and smiled at each other. 'I'll see you tomorrow', Rey whispered as she climbed onto her speeder and drove away. Once she had reached her home, Rey slipped a hand between her legs and tried to imagine Tyzen's body in its place, pulsing and thrusting in the most intimate of all dances. He would be there soon enough, she was certain. All she had to do to achieve it was to fix his ship. And then he would leave, like Kale had before him. It hurt, but Rey would not leave Jakku while there was any hope of her family coming back for her.

_I will let him go. But not yet. Not until I'm done with him._

**000000000**

When Rey left on her speeder, Ben had been filled with another desire to pull her back using the Force, sweep her off her feet and carry her back into the _Falcon_ where they would make love until neither of them could walk. Fortunately, his brain won this round, but his dick may very well win next time.

As he settled into Han's king-sized bed (being captain had its privileges) Ben imagined Rey sitting on his waist, naked as she rode him like a horse.

They would get there very soon. Ben knew it was inevitable. And however it worked out, Ben knew he wouldn't be finished with Rey by the time the _Falcon_ was fixed. Which meant he needed to find out what was making her stay on Jakku, and convince her to set it aside.


	14. Decisions and discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. Just so you know, what will come next will involve rapid switches back and forth between Ben and Rey's points of view, so to avoid confusion, Ben's will be in regular text and Rey's will be in bold.

**Rey figured out the plan the next morning as she went to find the parts Tyzen needed. She already knew he wanted her the same way she wanted him, so the way she figured it, she'd get a few weeks of casual sex and delicious food in exchange for helping fix his ship. Then Tyzen would leave, and that would be the end of it. Rey tried to forget just how good it had felt when they'd kissed last night. She also tried to forget the inevitability of Tyzen asking her how she'd ended up on Jakku.** _**Concentrate on what you're doing** _ **, she told herself.**

**Rey would be too tired to help fix the ship after working to bring the parts back from the Graveyard, so they'd agreed on a two-day cycle, where Rey would bring the parts back one day, then the next she'd help Tyzen fix the ship. As Rey scoured a rebel troop transport, she let out a whoop as she realised the engine carried several parts identical to the damaged ones in Tyzen's ship.**

_**My first bit of good luck for the day** _ **, Rey thought, as she started prying the parts off.**

**000000000**

Ben watched as Rey arrived on her speeder, and lowered the loading ramp for her. To his delight, she was carrying a large stack of parts in the netting she used. He lowered the _Falcon's_ loading ramp, and helped Rey carry it on the ship.

'I wasn't sure which parts would match up, so I brought all of them-' Rey started to explain as Ben kissed her. Not a passionate kiss like the one they'd shared last night, but the one you gave to a partner after they arrived home from work.

**Rey stiffened as Tyzen's lips closed over hers, then just as she was starting to enjoy it, he broke it off and smiled at her. She liked his smile. It always made her smile back.**

' **Relax, okay?' he said. 'We've got all day tomorrow to worry about this. Take a shower and cool off.'**

**Rey nodded mutely, then, placing her hands on Tyzen's chest, leaned forward and softly kissed him back.**

' **Okay', she whispered. She was in this mainly for hot, passionate kisses and casual sex. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle casual kisses and hot, passionate sex. But, Tyzen was right about her having to cool off. The whole day, Rey had been looking forward to doing so. As Rey left the shower, again clad in Tyzen's robe, she saw that Tyzen had prepared yet another mouth-watering meal.**

 _**You're not playing fair**_ **, she mentally cursed him, as she felt the drool coming on again. Dinner was a type of fish this time, and Rey would have yet again dug in and not spoken a word until she was done if Tyzen hadn't asked her the one question she was hoping he wouldn't ask.**

' **So, I've told you how I ended up here. Would you mind returning the favour?'**

Ben saw pain flash across Rey's eyes the second the words left his mouth. It was a deep pain, he noticed, and he instantly regretted asking.

'Look, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just saying, it's not the worst thing in the world to… share your pain.'

He paused. 'Especially with those who may actually understand it.'

**Rey paused. She hadn't told many people her story, but it was only fair after what Tyzen had told her yesterday.**

' **When I was little, my family left me here in Unkar Plutt's care. I don't know why, and I don't know where they went, but I know they'll come back for me, one day.'**

There was a look in Rey's eyes that warned Ben not to pry further. But he couldn't help himself.

' **Do you remember what they looked like?' Tyzen asked. Rey shook her head.**

' **Have any images of them?'**

**Again, Rey shook her head. She was starting to feel stupid, all of a sudden.**

' **How long have they been gone?'**

' **Fifteen years', Rey said, trying to stop her bottom lip from wobbling.**

' **So if two complete strangers turned up at Niima Outpost claiming to be your parents, you'd just go along with them-'**

' **Stop it!' Rey snapped, a little louder than she intended as she felt tears swell behind her eyelids.**

Ben mentally kicked himself as he saw that he'd upset Rey. He genuinely hadn't meant to, but there were so many holes in her reasons for staying on the hell that was Jakku he couldn't stop himself from pointing them out. But he didn't want to hurt her, either. Even if Rey didn't want to leave Jakku, Ben did, and he needed her to help him get out of here.

'I'm sorry', he said, holding his hands up in apology. 'I didn't mean to, you know, make you unhappy or anything-'

' **Just drop it', Rey growled, angrily digging her fork into her fish. As they ate in silence, a world of emotions swirled around inside Rey. As uncomfortable as it was to admit, there was logic behind Tyzen's reasoning against why she wanted to stay on Jakku. Rey** _ **wouldn't**_ **recognise her family if she saw them.**

Ben saw that Rey was still upset as they finished eating. He was unsure of what to say. But as Kara had taught Ben, so long ago, there was more than one way to say something to a person. So the moment he cleared the plates away, he took Rey's sad face in his hands and started kissing her, slowly and softly, to show her how sorry he was for making her feel bad.

**Rey could forgive Tyzen for his doubts as to why she would really be staying on Jakku. And anyway, in a pleasureless world, turning down the opportunity for pleasure was both sensible and crazy, for their own reasons. Tyzen's mouth was soft, and warm, and comforting on hers, and Rey could feel the hardness of his body beneath his clothes as her hands wandered about. She couldn't wait to feel his skin on hers, so she immediately began lifting his shirt up off his head. When she saw Tyzen's bare chest for the first time, Rey's mouth started watering in a way that had everything to do with hunger, yet nothing to do with food. Yet, she remembered that he had talked about other scars as well, so she reached her hand up to press on the small scar which provided the key to Tyzen's true form.**

**When the scars appeared on his chest, Rey was taken aback. There were burn marks, scorch marks which came from blaster fire, and something else which looked like the claws of an animal. A big animal. Rey's breath caught in her throat.**

' **How did you survive all these?' she whispered.**

' **There were times when I almost didn't', Tyzen whispered back. Rey's eyes swept up to his face, then she realised he was wearing a necklace, with a strange-looking amulet on the end of it.**

' **And what's this?' she asked, fingering it.**

' **It's just something I picked up along the way. A souvenir, really.'**

' **Of?'**

**Tyzen looked away briefly. 'I don't really want to talk about it.'**

**Rey looked into his eyes, and realised she'd get no more information out of him.**

' **It's okay', she whispered. 'We don't have to talk any more.'**

**And when they reached for each other this time, Rey knew that they both knew there was no going back now. Tyzen's hands gripped her ass and pulled her upwards, having her wrap her legs around his waist. He carried her easily to his bed, and gently laid her down.**

**Rey's head and neck arched for Tyzen's mouth, wanting more kisses, but Tyzen ignored her and planted his mouth on her neck instead, sending warm spasms all the way down Rey's body. Slowly, almost torturously, he worked to rid Rey of her clothes, as she did the same for him. When they were naked and pressed together, Rey's hair free of its constraints, she ran her fingers up and down and all around Tyzen's body. The sight of the scars on Tyzen was so much more exciting to her than the plain, smooth body he used as a disguise, because she got the feeling he wouldn't reveal it to just anyone. She rolled him over and straddled him, then listened to his surprised gasps as she started placing her lips on his scarred chest.**

Ben had not been expecting Rey, the tough, hardened scavenger, to have such a… _seductive_ nature about her. The feeling of her lips on the various marks he'd gained over the years was torture, in the most wonderful way. He felt his cock hardening, and knew it wouldn't be long before Rey's lips drove him over the edge. So he grabbed her hips and settled on top of her again, deciding to return the favour.

 **Rey's surprised giggles turned into gasps as Tyzen's mouth started wandering down her body.** _**No** _ **, she thought.** _**Please don't be good at this. Please don't make me crave thi-** _

**Tyzen's mouth settled between Rey's legs, and she stopped thinking altogether. Instead, her back arched and her hips started bucking as she cried out in ecstasy. Before she knew it, her orgasm from the excruciating pleasure hit her like a collapsed hunk of metal, and as she slowly started to settle down, Tyzen looked up, grinning evilly.**

**_Uh oh_ , ** **Rey thought as his head went back down. No, this wasn't happening again. No. No.**

_**Yes.** _

**Rey moaned as Tyzen's tongue started her up again. Fortunately, he did not spend enough time going down on Rey to drive her to another orgasm, as he quickly pulled his mouth off her pussy and starting moving upwards to cover her body with his own. He reached past her into a draw, and as he drew a package out Rey realised what he was doing. Kale and her had used protection often enough.**

' **Please,' Rey whispered. 'Please…'**

' **Please what?' Tyzen asked, with that infuriating smirk on his infuriatingly handsome, scarred face.**

' **Please… make love to me…'**

 **And so it began. Tyzen's covered cock plunged inside her and Rey started to gasp. God, he felt** _**good.** _

**As Tyzen began to pump, slowly at first, then steadily harder and harder, like a battering ram, his hands smoothing over her breasts and pinching her nipples, Rey was driven into a world of pleasure where nothing existed but the two of them. She wrapped her legs around him and met him thrust for thrust, both of them crying out all the while. All too soon, Rey's orgasm hit her again, and as she screamed her pleasure, Tyzen came himself, grunting as he finished. As he pulled himself out of her and disposed of the protection, Rey was grateful for him taking an unplanned pregnancy into consideration, but as they slowly came back down from their highs, and wrapped themselves in each other's arms, tiredness hitting them both, Rey couldn't help but feel whispers of greedy disappointment before she closed her eyes.**

**She wanted** _**all** _ **of him.**

**00000000**

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of passion for Ben and Rey. Their first night had awoken the spark of desire in them, and the first morning after, they'd taken one look at each other and furiously, almost angrily, fucked in Tyzen's bed. They really were like a couple of animals in heat, Ben decided, as he pulled himself out of Rey for the umpteenth time, lowering their gasping, sweaty forms down into his bed. It didn't even take that much for them to get started. Many times, Rey had noticed Ben giving her loving looks across the table they ate their meals at, which she took as her cue to crawl across the table and drag him back to bed.

Some days they spent more time out of their clothes than in them, which of course caused the ship's repairs to be delayed. But Ben just couldn't help himself. Being with Rey caused the pull to the darkness he'd felt ever since accepting Nihilus' power to somehow… quieten. Ben didn't know what that was about, but he didn't want to stop.

Not that they just had sex, of course. They talked a lot about their past experiences and about themselves, although since Ben had a lot more to tell Rey, he did most of the talking. Although he didn't give her the specifics, he told her about his parents, specifically that his birth had been more of an accident than anything else, but his parents both loved him. He told Rey about his half-sisters as well, about how he expected they would all be in Mandalore's army by now. Ben wondered how that was coming along, and whether or not Mandalore had selected someone to replace him as the leader.

In relation to what they did with the ship, Rey was a truly gifted scavenger and mechanic, much more so than Ben, that was for sure. The control panel, hyperdrive and fuel tanks had all been replaced with working parts. The engine, the only remaining feature not yet working, was by far the most complicated of them all, but thanks to Rey's nimble fingers Ben was confident it would be fixed sometime within the next few days. Which meant it would only be a few days before he had no reason to stay on Jakku anymore, Ben thought with sadness. He would leave, and Rey would be stuck on Jakku, doomed to spend the rest of her days scrounging for worthless, expired food and filthy water, and sleeping in a small, dirty bed in the downed AT-AT she called her home. She had shown it to Ben a few days after their first night together, and Ben had seen for himself that she had left a number of scratches covering the walls, one for every day she had been stuck on Jakku, waiting for the family that wasn't coming.

Ben smiled slightly as he remembered Rey showing him the many souvenirs from the Graveyard that she had kept over the years. One of these was the flight helmet of a Captain Dosmit Raeh of the Tierfon Yellow Aces, one of the Rebellion's best flying squadrons. Ben had tried the helmet on, then made Rey giggle when he wobbled the too-big helmet on his head. Whoever Dosmit Raeh had been, she clearly hadn't been human. Rey had also shown Ben an Imperial flight simulator she had scrounged from a crashed Y-Wing assault starfighter. She had honed her piloting skills on it over the years, and she proved it by running several simulations on it without her "ship" suffering a scratch, even with enemy fighters chasing her. When Ben pointed out simulations weren't much compared to actual experience, Rey had challenged Ben to do better.

Ben knew she regretted challenging him, because he had subsequently shown her what real piloting was all about by taking on the entire enemy squadron himself in the most difficult setting the simulation had, and completely obliterating them. Having to pilot _Blackjack_ over the years he'd spent as a Ghost, combined with the year he'd spent dodging the authorities as a smuggler, combined with the fact that he'd inherited his family's piloting skills, had made Ben a truly fearsome opponent in the air. When he'd noticed Rey going quiet after his triumph, Ben had apologised, then offered to teach her to fly in his ship. But Rey had realised where he was going with this and politely declined.

She seemed just as hellbent as staying on Jakku as Ben was hellbent on getting her off it, Ben thought, as he snuggled into Rey's sleeping form. Which meant he had to figure out a compromise, somehow. Then as Ben prepared to sleep, he realised with horror he was no longer wearing his taozin necklace. It must have come off when he and Rey had been in the process of ripping each other's clothes off, this particularly passionate night. Quickly leaving Rey's warmth, Ben thankfully found the necklace on the floor and slipped it over his head. _I hope Snoke and Kylo Ren didn't sense that_ , Ben thought, as he climbed back into bed and cuddled up with Rey.

**00000000**

Snoke and Ben's fallen cousin did not sense the young Skywalker. But someone had. In Jakku's Kelvin Ravine, specifically in the remote village of Tuanul, Lor San Tekka awoke with a shock from his state of meditation. While not force-sensitive himself, Tekka, like many others who worshipped the Force without actually being able to wield it, were able to establish a kind of connection to it through meditation. This allowed them to sense nearby disturbances in the Force as well, and Tekka had just sensed what felt like an _explosion_ of Force energy, coming from the direction of Niima Outpost, and tied to a single source. There was no doubt about it- somewhere in Niima Outpost was someone strong with the Force. Briefly, Tekka wondered if the First Order had discovered that he had the map they were looking for, and had simply sent Kylo Ren to the wrong place, but gazing outside, he saw no First Order ships on the horizon or in the atmosphere. It must be something else.

Perhaps Luke Skywalker himself was on Jakku? Tekka knew that the Force worked in mysterious ways, but it would be a humorous irony if the man the Resistance had been looking for for so long was on the same planet as the other man who claimed he had the map to lead them to the former. Whatever the reason, Tekka knew it was imperative that he discover it quickly. The Resistance had already replied it was sending someone to pick up the map Tekka had in a few days, so Tekka knew time was of the essence. He quickly ducked back into his hut and opened a box, activating the reprogrammed ID9 Imperial seeker droid that was inside.

'There has been a disturbance in the Force at Niima Outpost', he told the droid. 'Possibly a new Jedi. I need you to scout out the location, take photographs of every single life form within the Outpost, and report back to me.'

The reprogrammed droid beeped in understanding, and took off into the night sky.

**000000000**

**As Rey worked to fix the engine, underneath the ship's main floor, she was dismayed to realise she was almost done. It had been almost a month now since she had begun working on Tyzen's ship, and Rey had absolutely no hesitation in saying it had been the best month of her life. She had spent it eating the most delicious food she'd ever had, sleeping in the most comfortable bed she'd ever slept in, with the most caring yet passionate man she'd ever made love to. Sure, there was only one other man to compare him to, but still.**

**Rey's favourite time to spend with Tyzen, however, was in the moments just after they'd slept together, when they cuddled either over or under the sheets of Tyzen's bed. The feeling of closeness, of pure, gentle intimacy, that only came when Tyzen's warm, naked body was intertwined with her own, was quickly becoming familiar to Rey, so much so that she was unsure how she would be able to live without it when Tyzen left. Now that that was about to become a reality, Rey was now feeling… torn.**

**Fortunately, although she didn't know it yet, Tyzen was about to provide a solution to that.**

' **You alright?' Tyzen called down. 'I think it's quitting time, for now.'**

 _**No** _ **, Rey thought sadly, as she screwed in the final bolt.** _**It's quitting time forever.** _

**As she climbed up, she realised Tyzen was holding a steaming mug of tea for her. Rey accepted it gratefully.**

'You alright?', Ben asked Rey. She seemed oddly sad.

'It's done', she whispered as she drank her tea down.

It took a moment for those words to sink in, but when they did, they felt like a hammer blow to Ben's heart.

'I know what you're thinking', Rey said quietly.

'Do you not want to be with me?' Ben asked bluntly. He didn't need to, though. He saw it in her face. Rey _did_ want him as much as he wanted her; of that he was certain.

'I do', Rey said. 'I'm just… scared.'

Ben knew it took a lot for her to say that. Fortunately, he had devised a compromise for them.

'One week', he said, holding up a finger.

'I'm sorry?' Rey frowned, her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. Ben loved her confused face.

'For one week', Ben explained, 'you let me take you around all the beautiful places in the galaxy that I have seen, and show you that Jakku is not everything there is. If you don't like it, and you want to come back, I'll take you back here.'

Ben had a plan that after the week was up, he would tell Rey who he really was. He knew she wouldn't believe him, so he'd have to show her. He may very well scare her back to Jakku, but he knew whatever they had would never work out if she found out for herself sometime down the track.

**Rey was completely dumbfounded by Tyzen's offer. She did like the sound of it, though. It allowed her a glimpse of a life beyond being a Jakku scavenger, and gave her enough time to make a decision as to whether she would let the past die in favour of being with Tyzen. Deep down, Rey already knew that her final decision in regards to the latter was yes. But she appreciated Tyzen for giving her the option to say no, and she showed it by winding her arms around his neck and gently kissing him. 'Okay', she said.**

' **Okay?' Tyzen asked, his smile spreading across his face.**

' **Okay', Rey confirmed, Tyzen's smile making her smile back, as usual. 'Just… give me a day after this. So I can go back to my place, gather my stuff, that sort of thing.'**

Ben knew she was really going back to her place so she could say goodbye. But he didn't bring it up.

'Alright then', he said. 'You want me to go with you?'

' **No', Rey said, gently but firmly. 'This is something I have to do alone.'**

 **When they made love that night, Tyzen** _**worshipped** _ **Rey's body, kissing and nipping and fingering until she was a sobbing mess of orgasms. When they finally finished, Rey looked deeply into Tyzen's eyes above her as she cradled his face. She was nervous about what she had to say, but she couldn't bear keeping it in anymore.**

' **I think I love you', she whispered.**

Ben was shocked to his core. Then the biggest smile he'd ever smiled spread across his face as he looked down at the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

'I think I love you too', Ben said, and he saw happy tears form in the corner of Rey's eyes as she pulled his mouth down to hers.

**0000000000**

'The General's been after this for a long time', Poe Dameron said as he twirled the data storage unit Lor San Tekka had just given him between his fingers.

'There's something else', the old man said, as an ID9 droid appeared at his side. 'A few days ago, I felt a… disturbance in the Force, near Niima Outpost. It's a scavengers' base, about fifty miles west of here. I was sure it came from a force-sensitive life form. I sent this droid to investigate and take photographs. But I never could have imagined what he'd reveal.'

As if on cue, the seeker droid revealed an image of a young man, maybe in his late twenties, with light brown hair, green eyes and visible scars on the left side of his face. Poe saw he was walking with a girl, but he ignored her. He recognised the man's face from the Wanted posters he'd seen on more worlds than he could count, and the images General Organa had broadcast herself to the Resistance's allies, in a frantic attempt to find-

'Ben Skywalker', Poe breathed. Luke Skywalker's son. General Organa's nephew. Poe hadn't heard much about the youngest Skywalker, only that he'd been fighting the First Order in a group similar to the Resistance, then somehow, without warning, he'd disappeared just like his father before him. He'd been missing for more than a year. And now he'd been found. Poe grinned. But what on earth was Skywalker doing on Jakku? Poe decided he'd ask him himself, as BB8 burst into the hut and beeped out that the First Order was coming.

**0000000000**

'Take this, get to Niima Outpost', Poe said as he put the small stick inside BB8, yelling over the carnage and the screams of the dying villagers.

 _Where's Niima Outpost? And why there, anyway?_ BB8 beeped back.

'The old man said fifty miles west of here. And you need to go there because apparently that's where Ben Skywalker is,' Poe replied.

BB8 let out a series of surprised beeps.

'I know; I couldn't believe it either. You need to go to Niima Outpost and give the map to him. I'll meet you there, I promise', Poe yelled as he ran off to join the battle. Unfortunately, BB8 had gotten well clear of the burning village when his circuits registered that he didn't know what Ben Skywalker looked like.

What BB8 said in Droidspeak once this realisation came would have made the most foul-mouthed life forms in the galaxy faint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we're OFFICIALLY in movie territory! It has been one hell of a chore getting here, but it's been worth it! Can't wait for you guys to see what comes next!


	15. Catching up with the past

Ben jerked awake in Rey's arms as the pulse of dark side energy he sensed rocketed through him. There was no mistaking it. Kylo Ren was on Jakku. But he was… miles away. And somehow, he wasn't here for Ben.

Ben was confused. Why would the dark warrior who had once been his cousin come to Jakku if not for him? Ben felt Kylo leave the planet, to his relief, but he still spent the rest of the night watching the sky for First Order ships, using the Force to keep him alert. When he heard Rey stirring, he quietly slipped back into bed and pretended to wake up with her. After eating breakfast, he kissed Rey goodbye as she got on her speeder and set off for her AT-AT. She promised him she'd be back by lunchtime.

In regards to their trip, Ben had decided to show Rey Scarif first. The former Imperial base now had tropical resorts all over its surface, and Ben had spent a few days in one during his brief stint as Han's second mate. Which reminded him, now that the _Falcon_ was fully functional again, Ben might be able to get a message to the _Ervana_ , which he presumed Han would now be using as his main base.

Ben opened up the _Falcon_ 's communication links. 'This is _Falcon_ calling _Ervana_ , are you receiving me?' he said. Nothing but radio static answered his response, which meant the _Ervana_ was probably in a whole other part of the galaxy. Not that it mattered, really. Ben wasn't entirely sure what he and Rey would do once he told her who he really was. If she wanted to go back to Jakku, he would take her back. If she decided to stay with him, he supposed they would go back to Mandalore, and eventually, the Resistance base on D'Qar. Ben wasn't sure what Rey would do once they got there, because he doubted she'd quietly stand by. If the Force was on Ben's side, she might be happy enough as a mechanic, fixing damaged Resistance ships. As long as she didn't want to get into any of the ships and fight besides him, which in all seriousness was the most likely occurrence. Rey had a fighter's spirit, but she'd never been in any kind of fight beyond brawls with Unkar Plutt's thugs.

War was a different ball game altogether. But Rey didn't understand that. How could she? Well, Ben decided, they would have a whole lot to go through before they had to cross _that_ bridge. If they ever did cross it.

**0000000000**

**As Rey marked the last line in the wall of her AT-AT, she decided to sign her name as a send-off. And why not? Even if Tyzen and her didn't work out, somehow she knew, deep down, that she wasn't coming back here. As she packed the few belongings she would be taking with her in a bag, she heard a strange series of beeps and whistles coming from outside. Grabbing her quarterstaff as she ran in its direction, she came across a very curious sight: a spherical orange-and-white droid trying to escape a net held by a Teedo atop a luggabest.**

_**That's something you don't see everyday** _ **, Rey thought in bewilderment.**

**000000000**

'Where are we going?!' the recently-deserted stormtrooper FN-2187, now nicknamed "Finn", yelled at Poe, as the Resistance pilot made a beeline for Jakku's surface in the TIE Fighter they'd just stolen.

'We're going back to Jakku, Niima Outpost to be precise', Poe yelled back, trying to dodge the tracking missiles the First Order was firing at them.

'What in the- we need to get out of this system _right now_!' Finn screamed. 'What the _hell_ is at Niima Outpost that makes it so important?'

'One of the few people who might actually make a difference in this war. Also, with any luck, my droid. He's a BB Unit, orange-and-white markings, and he happens to be carrying a map leading to one of the _other_ few people who fit that description.'

'Who the _fuck_ could be that important?', Finn asked, a touch hysterically as he tried to blast the missiles out of the atmosphere.

'Ben Skywalker,' Poe replied, as calmly as he could. 'The map my droid has leads right to his father.'

It took a moment for the name _Ben Skywalker_ to sink in to Finn, and when it did, it sent shivers running through his bones. Ben Skywalker, the only man even Kylo Ren was said to be afraid of? Finn had heard about the Battle of Mustafar, where Ben Skywalker and his band of Mandalorian rebels had mercilessly slaughtered hundreds of Finn's fellow stormtroopers. If the younger Skywalker really was on Jakku, and he saw Finn wearing stormtrooper armour, Finn reckoned his life would probably last around two seconds after that.

Unfortunately, Finn was so caught up in the idea of what the terrible Ben Skywalker might do to him, he took his eyes off the missiles, which slammed into the TIE Fighter, knocking Poe unconscious.

Finn screamed all the way down to Jakku's sandy surface.

**000000000**

'All ready to go', Ben said to himself as he checked and re-checked the _Falcon_. Everything was in place. So why did he feel so nervous? His senses were ticking like crazy. Normally, Ben would have passed it off as leftover nerves from sensing Kylo Ren last night, but this felt… different. The urge to get off Jakku was now at an all-time high, so Ben was relieved to see Rey pull her speeder in just outside the _Falcon_. Ben had already had a "talk" with Plutt, where he'd mind-tricked the Crolute into thinking that he wouldn't sell Rey's speeder for scrap, no matter what anybody asked. Then as Ben lowered the _Falcon_ 's loading ramp, he realised Rey wasn't alone. A small, orange-and-white BB Unit droid was rolling around her legs.

'Who's your new friend?' Ben asked Rey, greeting her with a kiss.

**Rey happily accepted Tyzen's kiss, then started to explain. 'His name's BB8. One of the Teedos caught him right outside my home. He said he was looking for someone at Niima Outpost, so I gave him a ride here.'**

' **What are we going to do with him?' Tyzen asked. It was strange how his use of the word** _ **we**_ **made Rey's heart jump. It served as a joyous reminder that she wasn't alone anymore.**

**Rey was about to answer that she wasn't entirely sure, when she heard a crash. A dark-skinned man was stumbling through Niima Outpost, then he caught sight of a water trough and dunked his head in. It was the same filthy water Plutt had supplied Rey with over the years.**

_**Can't believe I used to DRINK that stuff** _ **, Rey thought. Strange how something which had once been a way of life for her had now become something she would hopefully never have to do again.**

'That wouldn't happen to be who you're looking for, would it?' Ben asked the BB8 Unit, referring to the man who was now rising up from the water trough, his legs shaking.

 _No_ , _thank the maker,_ BB8 beeped. _I'm looking for-_

'Hey!' came a shout. Ben looked up, and saw the dark-skinned man looking directly at BB8.

'Looks like he's looking for _you_ , though,' Ben said, as BB8 tore past him and beeped _take that off!_ at the dark-skinned man.

 _Take what off?_ Ben wondered.

'You want to see this through?', Rey asked him.

'Might as well,' Ben said as they started jogging after BB8.

He would wish he'd said no.

As BB8 reached the man, Ben was surprised to see BB8 shock the man with a stun prod. As the man went down, yelling in pain, BB8 shocked him again. _Take Master's jacket off!_ BB8 beeped loudly.

'What?', the man yelped.

'He says you're wearing his master's jacket', Ben explained.

The man relaxed. 'It belonged to Poe Dameron. That was his name, right?' he asked BB8.

BB8 didn't respond.

'He was captured by the First Order. I helped him escape, but our ship crashed. Poe didn't make it,' the guy continued.

BB8 retracted his stun prod and mournfully rolled away. Ben helped the man up, and managed to get a better look at him. He was wearing a very strange assortment of clothes. A tan jacket, combined with a black body glove. Ben froze. He had spent enough time looking at stormtrooper uniforms to know a stormtrooper temperature-control body glove when he saw one. While this guy could have easily put on a stormtrooper uniform to stage the rescue of BB8's master, Ben knew each body glove was made to specifically fit each stormtrooper. If this "rescuer" had truly disguised himself as a stormtrooper, the body glove would be misfitting in some places. And this body glove fit the man who was wearing it _perfectly_.

'So you're with the Resistance?', Rey asked.

_No._

'Obviously', the guy nodded. 'I'm with the Resistance, yeah. I am _with the Resistance_.' He whispered the last three words like it was important nobody else knew that. It wasn't; out at Niima Outpost, people didn't give a shit about anything beyond their own survival.

'I've never met a Resistance fighter before', Rey said hesitantly.

'Well, this is what we look like. Some of us. Others look different,' the man said.

 _Oh, come on_ , Ben thought. Even if Ben had never met anyone from the First Order or the Resistance, it would have been obvious to him this guy was a liar. And a _terrible_ liar at that.

BB8, however, must have believed him, because he quickly rolled back over and started beeping in Droidspeak. He was beeping so fast, Ben only caught words like _secret mission_ and _base._

'What'd he say?' the man asked them.

'He said he's on a secret mission, and has to get back to your base', Rey replied.

'Yeah. You guys probably won't believe this, but apparently he has a map leading straight to Luke Skywalker,' the man replied.

 _What?!_ Ben thought, the blood draining from his face. Well, that explained what Kylo Ren had been doing on Jakku the previous night. Ben knew what he had to do now. He had to get the droid alone, and show him who he was. Odds were, he was one of the few people BB8 would have been programmed to trust with showing the map. This stormtrooper, meanwhile, could have been sent as a spy, possibly to gain trust, steal the map and give it to his commanders. Ben had studied First Order stormtroopers during his time as a Ghost, and what he had taken away from it was they were as close to flesh-made droids as one could get. According to Boba, Jango Fett's clones had had more diverse identities than the First Order's stormtroopers.

Ben was yanked out of his thoughts by what Rey said next.

'Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth.'

'What?', Ben asked.

She shrugged. 'I've been stuck here most of my life, remember?'

'Hey guys, I'm sorry to interrupt, but can you tell me how to get to Niima Outpost?', the man asked them.

'Stay right where you are, 'cause you're standing in it,' Ben replied. 'Why?'

The man let out a breath. 'Okay, good, because I'm looking for someone else.'

'Who?', Ben asked.

'Ben Skywalker,' the man replied hesitantly.

Rey started laughing. 'A moment ago I didn't even know the Skywalkers existed, now you're telling me one of them is here? In Niima Outpost?' She doubled over with laughter, but Ben kept his gaze on the man. How had the First Order found him? Well, it didn't matter, because they were about to leave.

Ben was about to remind Rey of that when he saw the stormtroopers.

_Shit. They're HERE._

'Rey', Ben said. 'Get to the ship. NOW!'

**Rey was taken aback by Tyzen's tone, then she saw the stormtroopers.** _**Oh no.** _ **They were probably here for the droid, but they had likely recognised Tyzen too. Rey remembered he had told her he was amongst the First Order's most wanted fugitives.**

' **Run!', Tyzen bellowed as the stormtroopers started firing. Rey suddenly found her feet and ran right for Tyzen's** _ **Falcon**_ **. She really couldn't believe it was called that, even though she'd known it for a month now. As they ran to the** _ **Falcon**_ **, several stormtroopers blocked their path and started firing.**

**Out of the corner of her eye, Rey saw Tyzen snap into action and draw the blaster he used. 'Regular', he growled, and the voice-activated blaster sprang to life as he fired on the stormtroopers in their path, downing them all with the practiced ease of the soldier he'd been. As they ran past the fresh corpses, Rey noticed, to her surprise, the dark-skinned man and BB8 were following them.**

_**This is NOT the way I pictured leaving Jakku,** _ **Rey thought, as to her horror she spied TIE Fighters in the sky. As they got closer, Tyzen activated the** _**Falcon** _ **'s loading ramp and the four of them scrambled up it.**

' **You', he said to the dark-skinned man, 'get on the guns. BB8, stay put. Rey, you're with me in the cockpit.'**

**Despite the circumstances they were in, Rey was slightly aroused by Tyzen's take-charge attitude.** _**Not the time** _ **, she told herself.**

**000000000**

Ben could not believe this. He honestly could not believe this. When this was over, he and the stormtrooper who had somehow managed to tag along were going to have a few words about what he'd just brought down on Ben. And Rey. Ben could take himself getting hurt, but if _anything_ happened to the woman who chased the darkness away for him, Ben was throwing the stormtrooper out the airlock.

 _Might end up doing that anyway,_ Ben thought, as he activated the _Falcon_ 's controls.

'I need you to turn on the shields', he told Rey in the co-pilot's seat, as they started taking off. As she did so, Ben saw the TIEs for the first time.

_Okay, boys. Let's dance._

Ben's battle plan was already forming in his mind as he lifted off. He'd have to stay low for this. If he went right for the atmosphere, the _Falcon_ would go from a big target to a big, slow target, and it would be fish in a barrel for the more manoeuvrable TIEs. Also, going low confused the tracking systems on the TIE missiles. Ben could only hope the stormtrooper on the guns liked the idea of staying alive more than being a martyr for his cause. Speaking of which, he hadn't started firing yet. What the hell was going on back there?

'Do you mind firing back, please?' Ben yelled, as the TIEs opened fire on them. Had it not been for the modifications Han and Chewie had made to the shields long ago (again, illegally), Ben suspected they would have been blown out of the sky.

'Working on it!' the stormtrooper yelled back.

'Why are you going low?' Rey asked.

'If we go high, they'll catch up', Ben explained. He heard the stormtrooper finally start to fire back, and Ben was dismayed to see his shots missing their targets by at least several dozen metres. Yep, it was official- this guy was a stormtrooper. Who else could miss such an obvious target, at such a close range, by so much?

'We need cover!', Ben heard the stormtrooper yell.

'Rey, you mind telling me where cover is around here?' Ben asked, half-sarcastically.

'The Graveyard. Get to the Graveyard!', she quickly replied. Gazing out the cockpit, she pointed where Ben needed to go.

'There!'

Ben swerved instantly in the direction she pointed in, and the sudden change in position caused the stormtrooper's burst of fire, more out of luck than anything else, to catch one of the pursuing TIEs. Ben saw it was damaged, but it wasn't down yet. Ben had a plan to get it there, however, and as he and the TIE pilots began the deadly dance of snaking through the rusty, torn-apart ships, the damaged TIE drifted too close to a Star Destroyer and smashed into it. Thirty years of rotting on Jakku weren't enough to soften the Destroyer's surface, and the TIE exploded in a ball of fire. Almost immediately afterwards, Ben glimpsed scavengers fighting over the pieces of what was left of the TIE. God, these people were _animals_.

Ben then glanced at Rey, who was doing everything in her power to keep the _Falcon_ aloft, playing the part of co-pilot to perfection. Okay, maybe not all of them.

As the surviving TIE continued its barrage on the _Falcon_ , Ben saw another crashed Star Destroyer, and had an idea. A bad idea, but if it was pulled off, a good one. Ben piloted the _Falcon_ towards the huge hole that had once formed the Destroyer's thrusters.

**Rey saw what Tyzen was doing, and felt her heart drop into her stomach. 'You're insane', she said, as the man on the guns yelled 'are we really doing this?!'.**

**Tyzen didn't answer. Rey realised he probably hadn't even heard what they were saying; he was too busy concentrating.**

Ben was concentrating, all right. Concentrating with the Force, which he now fully immersed himself in as he waded the _Falcon_ through the narrow passages in the Destroyer, sparks scraping off the _Falcon_ 's sides as Ben performed hair-trigger twists and turns a non-Force sensitive would never have been able to achieve.

'Get ready!' he yelled back at the stormtrooper, as he saw daylight up ahead.

'Ready for what?' he and Rey both asked.

'You'll see', Ben mumbled under his breath.

As the _Falcon_ left the Destroyer, Ben swung the ship up, then 180 degrees around. The TIE Fighter, which had been following them this whole time, was caught off guard.

 _Don't miss, don't miss_ , Ben pleaded of the stormtrooper.

The stormtrooper didn't miss, and the TIE burst into flame.

**000000000**

**As the** _**Falcon** _ **left Jakku's atmosphere, Rey realised she was gripping the co-pilot's controls so hard, her knuckles were white. She was breathing quite heavily too, and she struggled not to start hyperventilating.**

' **I'm sorry', she heard.**

**She turned her head to Tyzen, who was now leaning back, his hands covering his face.**

' **What?', she asked, incredulously.**

**Tyzen put his hands down, and Rey was surprised by how grief-stricken he looked.**

' **I never wanted to drag you into my world', he began, and Rey felt her heart breaking for him. He'd just saved her, BB8, and the man below from certain death, and all he could think was that he had failed her. Rey knew what Tyzen needed right now, and it wasn't wallowing in guilt.**

' **I should have told you to go back home-' Tyzen started to say as Rey straddled him in his chair, cupped his face and placed her lips on his. Before long, it felt more like they were devouring each other as Rey poured her love for this simply** _ **incredible**_ **man into him.**

**It was ridiculous how hungry and desperate she was for his touch. But how could she not be? Tyzen tasted like life, and life always tasted best after a near-death experience.**

**0000000000**

Finn unhooked himself from the gun turret, and went to find the cockpit. He didn't know how the young man and woman, who were practically his own age, had managed to fly the ship as well as they had, but Finn was bursting with questions as to how they'd managed to do it. He also had other questions for the man. Finn had noticed the way he'd reacted to the mention of the Skywalkers. He knew something, that was for certain.

Finn also recalled the swift, yet precise way the man had downed those stormtroopers back at the Outpost without breaking in stride. He'd been trained as a soldier; Finn had spent enough time around soldiers to be sure of that. He may even be ex-Special Forces. Maybe… maybe Finn wasn't the only First Order deserter on this ship. Possessed of that hope, Finn drew closer to the cockpit- and saw the man and woman locked in a passionate embrace. Finn quickly drew back. He didn't know much about romantic relationships, but he knew they probably didn't want to be interrupted. So he withdrew to the ship's lounge, where BB8 was, and waited.

**00000000**

' **You know we have to go see how the others are doing', Tyzen said, as his lips moved lazily down Rey's neck, their earlier passion slowly cooling down. Rey still moaned at the feeling of Tyzen's mouth.**

' **There's something else', Tyzen said, and there was a hardness in his voice that made Rey snap back to attention.**

' **That other guy', Tyzen said, 'he's a stormtrooper, I'm sure of it.'**

' **Are you sure you aren't just being paranoid?' Rey asked, trying to quell the growing feelings of fear in her stomach. If Tyzen was right, they could very well be in the middle of a trap set by the First Order.**

' **I'm sure', Tyzen said. 'I'm not sure what his game is, but I'm going to find out.'**

' **He helped us against the TIE Fighters', Rey pointed out.**

' **If he hadn't, he would have died along with us', Tyzen replied. Rey was forced to see the truth in that.**

' **What are you going to do to him?', she asked, almost fearfully.**

' **Nothing, if he's smart.'**

**Rey made Tyzen promise his blaster would be set on stun, anyway. He said 'stun', to the blaster, and it adjusted accordingly. Rey shook her head.**

' **Wish I had a weapon like that', she said.**

' **Well, I could introduce you to the guy who makes them', Tyzen replied. Then, just before they left, he started fiddling around on the control panel.**

' **What are you doing?' Rey asked.**

' **Setting us on autopilot, and activating the ship's homing beacon. If my boss is anywhere in the general vicinity, he'll find us.'**

' **Who is your boss, anyway?' Rey asked. To her embarrassment, she'd never asked.**

' **You wouldn't believe me if I told you', Tyzen replied, as they strode out of the cockpit.**

**00000000**

Finn heard the footsteps of the two pilots approaching him in the lounge, and he rose eagerly to meet them.

'Hey', he mustered up a smile as they appeared, 'that was _some_ flying-'

Then Finn realised the man had raised his blaster and was pointing it at Finn's heart.

'Hands in the air, stormtrooper', he snarled.

**00000000**

Ben would have happily shot the stormtrooper dead and _then_ started asking questions, but Rey had insisted against it. As the stormtrooper's hands shot in the air, fear showing on his face, Ben started talking.

'I'll bet you're wondering how it is I know what I know. Well, to answer that question, I've killed _far too many_ of your brothers and sisters to not recognise the body glove you're wearing underneath that fancy jacket.'

**00000000**

Finn was struck dumb by the man's deducing. It was true, though. Finn hadn't removed the body glove all stormtroopers wore underneath their armour, and he silently fumed at the bad luck of not having more time to find a convincing disguise.

'Are you guys with the Resistance?' he asked the man.

' _We're_ asking the questions,' the girl replied. The curiosity she'd previously had on her face when regarding Finn had been replaced with distrust.

'What's your designation?', the man asked. 'And unless you want a hole in your chest, I _very strongly_ advise you answer truthfully-'

'FN-2187', Finn immediately replied. 'But you can call me Finn if you want.' He had no doubt the man would kill him if he lied. He had the eyes of a killer. And somehow, Finn got the feeling the man would have known he was lying if Finn had said any stormtrooper designation but his own.

'Okay then, _Finn_ ,' the man replied, scorn in his voice, as though he saw Finn's attempt at normality as something he was unworthy of, 'what's your game here, huh? Were you planning to grab the map from BB8, and deliver it back to your precious First Order, where you'd get a hug from your commanding officer and admiration from your fellow troopers?'

The man's voice was now lined with the venom of pure hatred for the First Order, and Finn felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat. This wasn't going well at all. So he decided to answer truthfully. Quickly, too, because BB8 had brought out his stun prod, and seemed oddly keen to use it on Finn again.

'I deserted', Finn said.

The man gave a derisive snort. 'Bullshit.'

'How do you know that?' the girl asked her boyfriend.

'During the time of the Empire', the man began as he launched into a brief history lesson, 'Imperial stormtroopers mainly consisted of regular people. Teenagers, even adults were able to join. As a result, roughly ten percent of the Rebellion's foot soldiers were stormtroopers who'd deserted. Therefore, when the First Order came about, they tried a different approach, based on that of the Jedi, actually, to all but guarantee blind loyalty.'

The man paused. 'I'm willing to bet Finn here was only a toddler when the First Order ripped him from the arms of the family he'd never know and never be allowed contact with again.'

The girl started to look sympathetic for Finn, but the man wasn't done talking.

'From the moment he could walk, Finn would have had the ideals of the First Order hammered into him. Essentially, by the time he finally graduated as a stormtrooper, Finn would have been little more than a battle droid made out of flesh and blood. So tell me, _battle droid_ , what went wrong with your programming?'

'My first battle', Finn answered, 'my group was ordered to fire on unarmed civilians. You're not wrong, you know, about the comparison to battle droids. We might as well have _been_ battle droids, the way everyone just… slaughtered those people. There was no questioning. No hesitation. Just... slaughtering.'

'Sound more like a massacre than a battle to me', the girl growled, distrust showing on her face again.

'It was, you're right. Anyway, after it happened, I made a choice. That I wasn't gonna kill for the First Order. I had to get away, but I needed a pilot. That's where Poe Dameron came in. You guys know the rest.'

There was a long pause. Then the man lowered his blaster, and Finn released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in.

**00000000**

The whole time Finn had been talking, Ben had carefully been picking through his memories with the Force. What he saw was enough to convince him that Finn was telling the truth. It was unlikely, but it was the truth. Ben got the feeling he could trust Finn, so he decided to roll the dice. Not too far, though.

'Well, Finn, I'm Tyzen, and this is Rey.'

'Okay. So _are_ you guys from the Resistance?'

'I'm not. I'm just a scavenger,' Rey said.

'But you are?' Finn asked Ben.

'Not exactly. I've fought against the First Order, but I was never part of the actual Resistance.'

'Oh. So you're a… partisan? Like Saw Gerrera?'

'Something like that.'

'Who's Saw Gerrera?' Rey asked.

'A guy who led a rebel cell against the Empire, but wasn't part of the Rebel Alliance,' Ben explained.

'Why not?'

'Gerrera didn't like to follow the rules of engagement-' Ben started to say, then realised the _Falcon_ was moving in a way that didn't feel like the autopilot. Quickly he ran back to the cockpit, then to his relief, he saw it was the _Ervana_ and not a Star Destroyer which had them in a tracking beam.

**0000000**

Han couldn't believe it when Chewie told him the _Falcon_ had popped up on their scanners. Yet, there it was, its homing beacon activated. When Han and Chewie had eventually woken up from their drug-induced coma, Han had initially thought Ben had done _another_ runner on them. Then the people in the bar told him they'd seen a pair of Rodians carry him out. Han only had to notice the _Falcon_ was gone to realise the Irving Boys must have tried to make a double profit on Ben and his ship.

Han had spent the last month in a constant state of worry. Leia didn't know Ben had spent the last year with him and Chewie, and if she heard that Han had their nephew then lost him, it would be the final nail in the coffin containing their relationship.

Ben's voice sounded out over the _Ervana_ 's comlink. 'Han? Chewie? It's Tyzen, do you read me?'

'Yeah. We read you, kid', Han replied.

It was a relief to know Ben was alive, but his use of the name _Tyzen_ was a red flag for the old smuggler- it meant Ben wasn't the only passenger on the ship. Someone else was on there. Someone who didn't know who Ben really was. While they could be friends, they could just as easily be enemies, so Han and Chewie kept their blasters half cocked and waited on the _Ervana_ 's service deck to see who came out with Ben.

**0000000000**

As Ben was reassuring the others that Han and Chewie could be trusted, the _Falcon_ finally landed on the _Ervana_ 's deck. As they walked out, Han greeted him with a brief handshake, while Chewie promptly lifted Ben off the ground with one of his rib-cracking embraces.

 _Missed you, kid_ , the Wookiee growled fondly.

'Missed you too, buddy', Ben managed to gasp out.

'Wait- you can understand that thing?' Ben heard Finn ask behind him.

'And "that thing", can understand you, so watch it', Han warned him, as Chewie put Ben down.

'Well, Tyzen?' Han said. 'You gonna introduce us to your new friends?'

'This is BB8', Ben began, motioning towards the circular droid. 'He's with the Resistance. That's Finn, he's a stormtrooper who recently deserted.'

'I know, I know', Ben said as mention of who Finn had been caused Han and Chewie to stare daggers at the former stormtrooper.

'And this,' Ben finished, 'is Rey. We… she's my girlfriend.'

Han raised his eyebrows at Ben's announcement, and Rey went slightly pink. Not that Ben could blame her- that was the first time Ben had ever called her his girlfriend.

'Well, that's very nice to hear', Han said, nodding respectfully towards Rey. 'I'm Han, this is Chewbacca, but everyone calls him Chewie.'

**It took a moment for Rey to piece together those two names with what she knew of galactic history, but when it clicked, she had trouble speaking.**

' **Han and Chewbacca?' she managed to squeak out. 'As in… Han** _ **Solo**_ **and Chewbacca?'**

**As Tyzen's boss nodded in confirmation, Rey remembered that Tyzen had told her she wouldn't believe who he worked for.**

' **You're right', she told Tyzen, 'I wouldn't have have believed you.'**

**Then something else clicked in her memory, and Rey stared back at the ship she'd practically been living in the last month. The Falcon.** **The** _**Millennium Falcon.** _

' **When you said Falcon, did you mean…' she pointed at the ship, and Tyzen slowly nodded.**

_**Holy fucking shit** _ **, Rey thought. Tyzen had probably thought she wouldn't believe the** _**Falcon** _ **'s true identity, and he was right about that as well.**

' _ **That's**_ **the ship that made the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs?'**

**The question came from Finn, who had apparently figured out what was going on.**

' **Twelve', Han corrected him. 'So,' he asked Tyzen, 'what's your plan, anyway? You going to join the Resistance officially now, or what?'**

In all the excitement of the last couple hours, Ben had completely forgotten about the plans he'd had with Rey. They would have to be put on hold now, that much was certain. By now, even though Ben's scars were covered up, there was no guaranteeing the First Order hadn't recognised him on Jakku. And if they'd seen Rey with him… Ben felt sick to his stomach at what those bastards might do to her.

'I don't know about joining, but we need to get BB8 to the Resistance. Apparently he's carrying a map leading to Luke Skywalker.'

As Han and Chewie's surprise spread across their faces, Finn spoke up. 'Also, _Ben_ Skywalker was on Niima Outpost when we were.'

'Wait, _that's_ where you've been this whole time?' Han asked Ben. 'What happened with the Irving Boys?'

'How do you know it was the Irving Boys?', Ben asked, confused.

'The people in the bar told us they saw you being carried out by a pair of Rodians matching the Irving Boys' description,' Han explained.

'Right', Ben said. He explained what had happened since then, with Ducain and landing on Jakku and them having to leave when the First Order showed up.

'Okay', Finn explained, impatience in his voice, 'but what about Ben Skywalker? We need to go get him. Isn't he your nephew?' he asked Han.

'If Ben really was on Jakku, and the First Order showed up on Jakku, Ben's probably been captured by them, or he's long gone', Han replied.

'Oh, he definitely hasn't been captured', Finn replied. 'Have you guys ever heard of the Battle of Mustafar?'

 _Is that what they're calling it?_ Ben thought, as Rey shook her head and Han's face took on a dark, clouded look.

'Apparently, Ben Skywalker took out over three hundred stormtroopers just by _yelling_ at them', Finn said.

**Rey sucked in a breath. She'd heard of the mystical powers possessed by the Skywalkers and the Jedi, but it was something else to hear her childhood stories come to life.**

' **If that's true', Tyzen said, 'why did the First Order only send a couple of TIE Fighters and maybe a single squadron of stormtroopers to get Skywalker? If I was in command, I'd have sent an** _ **army**_ **to Jakku.'**

' **They probably didn't know Skywalker was there', Finn replied. 'I didn't, until BB8's master told me.'**

 _Poe Dameron, from the Resistance._ But how had _he_ known Ben was on Jakku?

Ben's thoughts were interrupted by a series of _thunks_ that came from within other parts of the _Ervana_.

'Don't tell me a rathtar's gotten loose', Han groaned.

 _Wait, what?!_ Ben thought.


	16. Visions

When Kylo Ren heard the report that the droid had escaped the clutches of Jakku, due to the aid of one of the First Order's stormtroopers, no less, he had responded by igniting his lightsaber and slashing at the walls around him.

As Ren turned around to see the visibly shaking Lieutenant Mitaka, the bearer of the bad news, he felt an odd touch of sympathy. After all, he was only a messenger. But Ren had a feeling deep in his gut that there was more to the story of the droid's escape.

'Anything else?', he asked.

'The traitor and droid were accompanied by two others, a man and woman, probably local scavengers.'

 _What could FN-2187 have told scavengers to make them join him on his mad quest?_ Ren thought. Of course, they could merely have been looking to share in the glory of finding the last Jedi. But he wanted to see them for himself.

'Show me the footage', he demanded. All stormtroopers, TIE fighters and many other members of the First Order's military were equipped with cameras, and Mitaka responded by taking out a holoprojector and showing Ren what looked like the outskirts of a dusty scavenger's outpost. Ren saw from the cameras of one of the TIEs, positioned above the outpost, that the squadron of stormtroopers had split in half and approached the outpost from both sides, trying to trap the droid between them. A smart move.

Ren then saw that the fugitives had met some of the stormtroopers head on and mowed them down with blaster fire. Well-aimed blaster fire. Then as the droid, traitor, and scavengers moved towards their getaway ship, Kylo froze as he recognised their form of transport. How many times had he seen it flying across the sky, or flown in it himself?

'Switch to one of the stormtroopers', he demanded, then as Mitaka did so, Ren focused on the two scavengers, in the moment before the man pointed his blaster at the camera.

'Stop.'

As the screen froze, Kylo did too. The woman, who looked more like a girl, was unfamiliar to him. But the man…

Behind his mask, Kylo looked at Ben Skywalker. His face was free of the wounds Kylo had inflicted on him during that terrible day on Mustafar. When he'd returned to the Supreme Leader, Kylo had been careful to note that Ben Skywalker now possessed wounds on the left side of his face, courtesy of the lightning Kylo had cast at him before Skywalker's lightsaber had severed his hand.

Kylo had initially been very excited at this new power, but he had been unable to draw upon it again. Using the Force to cast lightning required a hand made of flesh and blood, not metal, and Kylo had tried over and over in the last year to repeat the process with his left hand, to no avail. Snoke had once suggested that when Kylo had cast the lightning, he may have been subconsciously drawing on the power of the dark side contained in Mustafar, and to his frustration, Kylo had found no evidence to dispute that.

Kylo's metal hand itched at the prospect of closing itself around Ben Skywalker's throat. But for that to happen, he would need to be alive. And bound up in so many chains he wasn't capable of moving, though even that may not be enough. Kylo now felt a whisper of fear inside him. Skywalker had spent more than a year with the power of Darth Nihilus inside him. Who knew what new abilities he may have discovered in that time?

Ren now looked at Mitaka. 'Spread the word that the droid is to be recovered. FN-2187 is to be brought back for execution. And the scavengers are to be killed on sight.'

**000000000**

Ben's memories of the rathtars from his first mission as a Ghost swam through his head as Han ran towards one of the _Ervana_ 's control panels.

'You're _not_ hauling rathtars, are you?' Finn asked.

'I'm hauling rathtars', Han said.

A dozen different images from the _Ervana_ 's cameras flickered to life on the console above the control panel. One of them, positioned on the exterior of Han's freighter, revealed another ship, which was quickly approaching them.

'Oh great', Han groaned. 'It's the Guavian Death Gang.'

The name was vaguely familiar to Ben. Han had mentioned the Death Gang to him before, describing them as a criminal organisation whose red-armoured foot soldiers were somehow neither alive or dead, and all the deadlier for it.

'Must have tracked us from Nantoon', Han said, moving with surprising speed towards one of the _Ervana_ 's corridors. The others followed him.

'What's a rathtar?' Ben heard Rey ask Finn.

'They're big and they're dangerous', Han offered as an explanation.

'You ever heard of the Trillia Massacre?' Finn asked.

'Yeah', said Ben. _I caused it._

'No', said Rey.

'Good', Finn replied. 'How'd you hear about it?', he asked Ben.

Ben shrugged. 'You fight the First Order, you hear all sorts of things about them', he lied.

'Yeah. Anyway, I got three of them going to King Prana', Han said, with all the casualness with which one might say they were delivering a parcel, not three life-forms with a hard-on for killing that was worse than most other beings in the entire galaxy.

'Three?!' Finn squeaked. 'How'd you get them on board?'

'I used to have a bigger crew', Han said, with the same casualness. Stopping suddenly, he activated a control on the corridor's wall and a hatch popped up in the floor.

'You two', Han pointed at Rey and Finn, 'get below deck until I say so- and don't even _think_ about taking the _Falcon_.'

' **What about Tyzen? And BB8?' Rey asked. She had a sinking feeling as to why her recently-announced boyfriend was staying above ground, and Han Solo confirmed it for her.**

' **Tyzen's with me in case things go bad. I need his firepower', Solo said, indicating the blaster Tyzen was still carrying. 'The droid stays with me as insurance in case you two get any ideas.'**

' **What about the rathtars, where are you keeping them?' Finn asked. As if on cue, a** _ **WHAM**_ **came from behind them and Rey yelped as she saw some…** _ **thing**_ **moving in the window behind her, which she now realised formed part of a holding cell.**

' **There's one', Han pointed. 'Now get below. And keep quiet!'**

' **What are** _ **you**_ **gonna do?' Rey asked.**

' **Same thing I always do. Talk my way out of it,' Han answered her. Chewbacca made a noise that sounded like sniggering, and as his partner started arguing with him, Rey approached Tyzen.**

' **Are you sure about this?' she asked.**

' **I know what I'm doing', Tyzen replied, as he placed a hand on Rey's cheek and softly kissed her. Rey deepened the kiss, hoping it wouldn't be the last one she had with him. Then they slowly broke apart, and she followed Finn down the hatch.**

As Ben watched Rey disappear below deck, he noticed Han and Chewie were eyeballing him.

'What?', he asked defiantly. He knew what they were thinking, though. They were thinking about how Rey would react when she found out who Ben really was.

'We need to get back to the cargo bay-' Han started to say, then a circular door opened in the corridor ahead, and five of the Death Gang's red-armoured soldiers marched through, followed by another man dressed entirely in black leather.

'Han Solo', the latter addressed them, 'you're a dead man'.

 _Great start_ , Ben thought, as Han's silver tongue went to work. 'Bala-Tik!', he said. 'What's the problem?'

'The problem is we loaned you fifty thousand for this job', the man replied, evidently not fooled by Han's methods. 'We heard you also borrowed fifty thousand from Kanjiklub.'

'You know you can't trust those little freaks', Han scoffed.

The name _Kanjiklub_ rang a bell in Ben's brain. Another gang of criminals. When Ben was in charge of things, scum like that wouldn't have a safe place to hide. He'd slaughter them all-

 _Whoah_ , Ben thought. His hands weren't exactly clean, but where had this bloodlust come from? He felt very… _strange_ , all of a sudden. Like the pull to the darkness he'd felt since taking on Nihilus' power had somehow become stronger.

He focused on the Death Gang. Truth be told, he could call upon Nihilus' form and wipe them out inside of two seconds, but then he'd have some explaining to do to Rey. However, it would probably come to a fight anyway, as Bala-Tik seemed like he wanted one. Hopefully, Ben, Han and Chewie had better aim than the red-armoured cyborgs and their practically spitting-mad leader.

'Kanjiklub wants their investment back too,' Bala-Tik said, his voice steadily becoming angrier.

'I never made a deal with Kanjiklub!' Han protested.

'Tell that to Kanjiklub', Bala-Tik said, looking past them.

As the three and BB8 looked to where Bala-Tik was indicating, a door at the other end of the corridor opened, revealing another half-dozen, heavily armed intruders. Although their physical appearance was vastly different to the Death Gang, they were all looking at Han with the same hatred as Bala-Tik.

'Tasu Leech', Han addressed the leader of the group, almost bowing. 'Good to see you.'

Leech responded in a language that Ben didn't understand. By the way he was talking, however, Ben gathered he was saying more or less what Bala-Tik had been saying. It was obvious that this was going to end in blaster fire, so Ben's tactical training kicked in as Han and the leaders of both gangs kept exchanging words. The three of them and BB8 were caught between a dozen heavily armed, heavily armoured killers. It was a crisis, all right. Ben honestly couldn't see any scenario where they all got out of this alive without him using Nihilus' power, or something related to the Force, anyway. He could try a mind trick, but he had no idea if he could make it work on a dozen people at the same time.

Ben was jerked out of his thoughts by Bala-Tik, who'd just noticed BB8 trying to hide behind Chewie's legs. 'That BB Unit', he remarked. 'The First Order is looking for one just like it.'

Ben could sense the Kanjiklubbers' interest growing at that bit of news. But what came out of Bala-Tik's mouth next sealed his fate.

'And three fugitives', he added. 'One of whom looks a _hell_ of a lot like the guy you have next to you.'

'AP', Ben murmured quietly to his blaster, and it adjusted to the armour-piercing setting. It was almost sad, what he had to do to stay alive.

**0000000000**

**Rey had listened with no small amount of worry as she listened to Han Solo's fumbling attempts at talking down the Guavian Death Gang. Then when the Kanjiklubbers had entered the scene, Rey's heart had leapt into her mouth. She knew this wouldn't end well, and Tyzen's chances of surviving the combined assault of a dozen armed killers were essentially nil. He was a good fighter, but nobody was** _**that** _ **good.**

**Then Bala-Tik had recognised BB8 and Tyzen, and Rey knew she had to do something about this. But what? Crawling frantically around on her hands and knees, Finn following behind her, Rey's mechanical brain started whirring as she recognised what the mess of wires and buttons in front of her was. A plan started to form in her mind.**

' **If we close the blast doors in that corridor, we can trap both gangs', she whispered.**

' **You can close the blast doors from here?' Finn asked incredulously.**

**Rey nodded. 'Resetting the fuses should do it.'**

**She reached for the fuses.** _**Okay, this one here, and this one…** _

**00000000**

Ben was approximately one second away from lighting the assailants up when he heard the rathtars roar. All of a sudden, he felt like he was back on Twon Ketee, leading his first mission.

'I got a bad feeling about this', Han murmured.

'Kill them! And take the droid!' Bala-Tik yelled. Ben raised his own weapon in response, but in the moment before he was to put an armour-piercing blast through Bala-Tik, the corridor behind the Death Gang _exploded_ as one of the rathtars came out of nowhere and started snacking on the cyborgs. Ben didn't know how the beast had gotten out, but he seized the opportunity and whirled around to fire on the Kanjiklubbers- only to see another rathtar engage them as well.

'Come on!' Han pulled on Ben's arm, the old man moving like he was forty years younger. As they raced down a side corridor, Han punched a Kanjiklub member and threw him into the gaping maw of one of the rathtars, which was hot on their heels.

'You can't by any chance calm these things down, can you?' He yelled at Ben.

'With the Force? Not likely,' Ben replied, as he turned around.

'Incendiary', he growled, and as his blaster adjusted, he fired the phosphorous round directly into the rathtar's mouth. The rathtar shrieked in pain as it began cooking from the inside. Then blaster fire from Bala-Tik and one of his henchman forced them to scatter. As Ben ducked down a random corridor, he stopped as he realised he had become separated from his companions.

 _Have to find Rey_ , he thought, and he reached out with the Force.

**000000000**

' **This was a mistake!', Finn yelled, as he and Rey crawled through the tunnels.**

' **Huge!' Rey agreed. The moment she realised she had opened the rathtar's cages instead of closing the blast doors, she felt sick at what she had done. But there was no time to dwell on her mistake- she had to** _ **get out of here**_ **. As Finn and her reached a hatch and scrambled out of it, Rey's only thoughts were of Tyzen, and how she might have killed him through her idiocy.**

' **These rathtars, what do they look like?' she asked, trying to distract herself. Her question was answered almost immediately afterwards as they rounded a corner and saw a massive, blobby mess with a multitude of arms tearing Guavians apart.**

' **They look like that!' Finn said.**

 **Rey clapped a hand over her mouth.** _**What have I done?!** _

**Then as they turned to run in the other direction, a tentacle gripped Finn and dragged him off.**

**00000000**

_There_ , Ben thought, as he found Rey, several corridors away. He heard Finn's scream as he was taken by the rathtar. Against his better judgement, Ben felt a strange desire to help the stormtrooper. After all, he had proven himself so far. He could make a valuable ally in the future. Ignoring the Guavians and Kanjiklubbers, who were running down the corridors screaming, barely paying him any attention, Ben ran towards the sound. As he came across the rathtar, he realised the beast had caught sight of him and was hurling itself forward, hungry for his flesh. He couldn't shoot it- he might hit Finn.

Ben dropped his blaster on the floor, and pulled Nihilus' lightsaber from the shadows.

**000000000**

Finn wasn't entirely sure what happened. One second, he'd been frantically trying to free himself from the grip of the rathtar which was making a beeline for Tyzen. Then somehow, Tyzen was leaping right over them, higher and faster than any human should have been able to. Then a flash of red appeared in Tyzen's hands, and he used to slice through the tentacle holding Finn, all in mid-air.

Then as Finn fell to the floor while Tyzen landed safely on his feet, the rathtar screamed in pain and started rolling back around. Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw Tyzen deactivate his lightsaber- _lightsaber?!_ \- and make a pushing motion with his hands. The rathtar was thrown back by whatever trick Tyzen was using all the way to the end of the corridor, where it slammed against one of the walls. Then Tyzen ran towards where his blaster was lying on the floor, and as the rathtar recovered and came for him, Tyzen fired what looked like white smoke directly into the rathtars' mouth. As the rathtar fell where it was and started to make a sizzling noise, Tyzen turned back to Finn.

Finn realised he was still lying down, and was shaking slightly from fear. But not the fear of what the rathtar may have done to him. He'd seen Tyzen wield a lightsaber, like Kylo Ren. He'd seen Tyzen move something without touching it, like Kylo Ren. There was no doubt about it- Tyzen was a force-wielder, just like the mysterious dark warrior who every soldier within the First Order was secretly terrified of. Then Finn suddenly remembered Han Solo's casual reaction to the mention of Ben Skywalker, his own nephew, being hounded by the First Order on Jakku.

He hadn't shrugged it off because he didn't care about his nephew. He'd shrugged it off because his nephew _had been right there with him_ at the time.

**0000000000**

**As Rey reached the monitors, a plan to close the blast doors on the tentacle holding Finn running through her mind, she saw that Tyzen had managed to free Finn from the rathtar and was putting one of his incendiary rounds through it. Rey let out a massive sigh of relief that her boyfriend and their newfound ally were alright, and she went to find them.**

**0000000000**

'You're him, aren't you?' Finn asked, from where he was lying down. 'You're Ben Sky-'

They were interrupted by Kasu Leech and two of his surviving men, who let out a scream of indecipherable curse words and fired at them. Ben reached out and stopped the barrage in mid-air, then, ignoring the criminals' gasps of surprise, sent the bolts back through the bodies of the men who'd fired them. As they fell to the floor, stone dead, Ben felt the sudden urge to kill Finn to keep his identity secret, with the same pull to the dark side he'd felt earlier when thinking about Kanjiklub. What on earth was _wrong_ with him? Whatever it was, Ben felt worried. Anyway, a mind trick would do in regards to Finn.

 _For now_ , the bloodlust coursing through Ben's body whispered.

Ben waved his hand in front of Finn. 'I shot the tentacle off. The rathtar dropped you, and I killed it. I shot the Kanjiklubbers before they could fire back.'

'You shot the tentacle off. The rathtar dropped me, and you killed it.' Finn repeated, his eyes going blank. 'You shot the Kanjiklubbers before they could fire back.'

Then Rey burst into the corridors, and Ben felt a wave of relief as he embraced her.

'How'd you take it down?' she asked, motioning towards the rathtar.

'He shot the tentacle off-' Finn began.

'No time!' Ben replied. Grabbing Rey's hand, he set off. 'Come on, the _Falcon_ 's this way.' Ben's experience on board the _Ervana_ meant he knew exactly where to turn to make it back to the service deck where the _Falcon_ was located. As they reached the clearing, Ben saw Han holding an injured Chewie up, with BB8 rolling around their legs.

'Han!' Ben called out.

His uncle turned to look at them.

'Take care of Chewie!' He motioned to Rey and Finn. 'Tyzen, you're my co-pilot!'

As Rey and Finn slowly carried Chewie over to the _Falcon_ 's medbay, Ben joined Han in the cockpit.

'Watch the thrust', Han said, as he started activating the controls, 'we're going out of here at lightspeed'.

'We're still _inside_ the hangar', Ben pointed out.

'Yeah, I know', Han replied.

'So how is going to lightspeed even _possible_ -'

'Here's some fresh advice for you', Han said, irritated by Ben's questions, ' _Never_ ask that kind of question until _after_ you've done it!'

Then the sole surviving Rathtar, who had already chowed down several gang members, felt a hankering for dessert and jumped directly on top of the cockpit.

'Activate the shields!' Han commanded, and Ben did so, trying not to look at the mass of teeth scraping against the glass outside.

'This is _not_ how I thought this day was gonna go. Hang on back there!' Han yelled, as the _Falcon_ jumped to lightspeed.

**000000000**

After conversing with his apprentice and General Hux, Snoke sat on his throne and pondered. The report that the droid was in the hands of Han Solo had just reached him. If they made it to the Resistance… if they found Luke Skywalker… if Ben Skywalker came out of hiding as well… so many _ifs_ plagued Snoke. And beneath them all was a deep seated fear of what the older Skywalker may have been doing since he disappeared. After all, it had been _six years_. Plenty of time to train a new batch of Jedi.

The one bit of consolation Snoke had was that Ben Skywalker and his father disagreed on how to train Force-sensitives. But that didn't mean they wouldn't ally against him. On top of this was the knowledge that the Mandalorians had built defensive shields around their planet and moon. They were preparing for war against the First Order, Snoke knew that with absolute certainty. No matter, though. After the Republic was destroyed, Snoke would simply have Starkiller Base use its weapon to destroy where the Resistance was located, then do the same for Mandalore. No defensive shield could stand against what Starkiller Base had, that was for sure.

There was something else, too. Snoke had sensed his apprentice was hiding something from him when they spoke. He wasn't sure what, but he would find out. One way or another.

**000000000**

'What are you doing?' Ben asked Han, as the _Falcon_ 's captain started poking around the cockpit.

'Are you sure the ship was damaged when you hit Jakku? Because I'm not seeing anything wrong with… anything.'

'You have Rey to thank for that', Ben said. 'I think she made it _better_ than it was before.'

'I do, too.' Han paused, then looked back to see if anyone else was within earshot. 'Don't you remember what I told you about women?'

'They always figure out the truth.'

' _Always_. It's unnerving. And let me tell you, whatever you've got going with that girl is going to take a very wrong turn if she figures out who you are before you tell her-'

'Oh, _spare me_ , you hypocrite,' Ben snarled.

Han blinked in surprise.

'Do you really think _you're_ the right person to be giving me relationship advice?' Ben snapped. 'Cause last time I checked, _you_ walked away from Leia, not the other way around. And another thing- I may have made mistakes in my past, but that's _nothing_ compared to what Jacen's done.'

Ben wouldn't normally have said this to anyone, let alone his uncle, but he'd had enough of people judging him for the decisions he made. _Jacen_ was the one who'd turned to the dark side, not Ben.

**000000000**

Han knew Ben was just tired from the long day he'd had, but that didn't make his words bite any softer.

'You're right', Han said, spreading his hands in a sign of peace. 'Just… don't make the same mistakes I did. Look where it got me.'

He left the cockpit to find Chewie, hurriedly brushing at his eyes.

**00000000**

Ben felt sorry for upsetting Han, but at the same time, he took a kind of savage pleasure from it. By what right did that old smuggler judge him, anyway?

As he left the cockpit, he saw Han inspect Chewie. Fortunately, it looked like the Wookiee had been successfully bandaged up. Ben noticed Finn and Rey weren't carrying any bruises, which was a surprise, because Chewie had a habit of hitting or violently shaking anyone within range if he was hurt. Once, when Ben had been Han's second mate, Chewie had been shot during one of their smuggling jobs by a rival of the person they were delivering the smuggled items too. When Ben had tried to bandage the Wookiee up, he'd walked away with a series of cuts and bruises, caused by the Wookiee's incessantly flailing fists.

'He didn't… struggle?' Ben asked the pair.

Rey shook her head. 'He said that you would probably kill him if he hurt me, so he stayed as still as possible.'

Ben looked at Chewie. 'Wish you stayed still for me, you big baby.'

 _Watch it_ , Chewbacca growled.

'So', Han said, gazing at Rey while suppressing a grin, 'how'd you come into the picture, anyway?'

' **When Tyzen crashed on Jakku, he hired me to help him fix the ship', Rey explained. She didn't feel like going into full detail about how she'd been about to leave Jakku with Tyzen when the First Order showed up. For the first time since leaving the desert planet, she remembered that her boyfriend had had plans to show her the galaxy, and she felt a twinge of sadness that now, said plans were probably ruined.**

' **Well, you did a bang-up job', Han noted. 'The** _ **Falcon**_ **'s in the best condition I've seen her in since… well, a long time ago.'**

**Rey couldn't stop herself from smiling at the praise. It wasn't every day a living legend paid her a compliment.**

' **And what about you?' Han gazed at BB8. 'Is it true you have the map to Luke?'**

**BB8 beeped positively.**

' **Let's see whatcha got', Han said, and the holoprojector on BB8's face filled the** _ **Falcon**_ **'s lounge with a huge, well-detailed map of stars. Han walked through the projection, his eyes darting about.**

' **This map's not complete. It's just a piece', he noted. 'Ever since Luke and Ben disappeared, people have been looking for them.'**

' **Why did they leave?' Rey asked.**

' **Luke was training a new generation of Jedi. One boy, an apprentice, turned against him and destroyed it all. Luke felt responsible, so he just… walked away from everything.'**

' **And what about Ben?' Rey asked. In all the stories she'd heard about Luke Skywalker, none of them had mentioned a son. She wondered how it would have felt, to grow up in Luke Skywalker's shadow.**

**A grimace of pain flashed across Han's face. 'Before Luke's Jedi were destroyed, he and Ben had a… falling-out. Ben inherited Luke's power- he was his best student, in fact, but he felt there was something missing, so he wanted to visit previous Jedi Temples to see if he could find it. Chewie and I were supposed to watch over him, but one day, Ben gave us the slip, and we haven't seen him since. That was close to ten years ago, now.'**

' **Why would he leave you?' Finn asked.**

' **Ben left a note that said where he was going was too dangerous for us to follow. Said it was a Jedi-only zone, something like that. Luke, on the other hand… those that knew him best said he went looking for the first Jedi Temple.'**

' **The Jedi** _ **were**_ **real?' Rey said. She couldn't believe it. The idea of a group of people able to move things without touching them, wielding swords made of light, had always seemed too good to be true.**

' **I used to wonder about that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. A magical power holding together good and evil, the dark side and the light. The crazy thing is, it's all true. The Force, the Jedi… all of it.'**

' **What was it that lead you to think Ben Skywalker was on Jakku, of all places?' Tyzen asked Finn.**

**Rey was curious about that herself.**

' **BB8's master, Poe Dameron- he said that's where Skywalker was,' Finn answered.**

' **Was he sure about that?' Han asked. 'Because rumours about where Ben and Luke are have been popping up ever since they both disappeared.'**

 **Finn visibly hesitated. 'I don't… I don't know if Poe was sure. He** _**sounded** _ **sure, but… I don't know.'**

Ben was satisfied with Finn's explanation. Then their attention was diverted to an alarm going off, signalling that they were about to drop out of hyperspace.

'You rest', Han pointed at Chewie. 'You guys want my help, you're getting it. We're gonna see an old friend- she'll get your droid home.'

'This is our stop', he added, motioning towards the cockpit. As Ben settled back into the co-pilot's seat, he noticed where they had arrived: Takodana.

'Maz?' he asked Han. _'Maz_ is with the Resistance?'

Han shrugged.

'Who's Maz?' Ben heard Finn ask behind him.

'Maz Kanata- a pirate queen, very old, very wise, kind of a cranky temperament', Ben answered.

 **As Rey gazed out the cockpit, she felt a sudden rush of emotion as she saw more green than she'd ever seen in her life. And water, too. So much water she could practically swim in it. Due to growing up on a desert planet, Rey didn't know the first thing about swimming, but she wanted to learn. Maybe Tyzen could teach her. She felt a sudden rush of anger towards the parents who had left her on Jakku. How could they have left her to rot in that hell, and denied her the opportunity to see sights such as this? How could she have been so stupid as to believe they would come back, after fifteen years of** _**nothing** _ **?**

' **I didn't know there was this much green in the entire galaxy', she said softly. Tyzen turned in his seat and smiled at her with such tenderness, Rey felt a sudden urge to cry tears of joy that, after years and years of relentless punishment, she had found someone who made her feel safe, and loved. After all the excitement they had been through the last few hours, Rey just wanted to curl up with her boyfriend and fall asleep in his arms. It had been a very** **long, very** _ **tiring**_ **day. But they had to get BB8 home first. As Han and Tyzen landed the** _ **Falcon**_ **near the stone castle on the planet's surface, Rey ran outside, not even waiting for Tyzen, and just drank in the environment.**

**It was strange how everything smelled… alive.**

'Give this to her', Han said, handing Ben a small pistol, a LPA NN-14 model, as he and Finn began filching through the closet where Han stored all his spare blasters. As Ben walked outside, he saw Rey standing at the edge of the lake where they had landed.

'Nice view, isn't it?' he called out.

Rey turned to him, and Ben was surprised to see the glimmer of tears in her eyes. 'It's just so… beautiful', she whispered.

'You grew up on a dead world. This one's alive', Ben said, standing next to Rey.

**Rey nodded. Then she noticed Tyzen was holding a blaster pistol out to her. 'For you', he said.**

' **You know I can handle myself', Rey said.**

' **Yeah. On Jakku. The rest of the galaxy… trust me, you'll need a blaster to survive it,' Tyzen said. Rey took the pistol and pointed it outwards.**

' **You know how to use that thing?' Tyzen asked.**

' **Yeah- pull the trigger', Rey said.**

**Tyzen chuckled. 'There's more to it than that.'**

**They stayed together in silence for a moment. Then Rey realised something was up with Tyzen. He was fidgeting uncomfortably, his eyes flickering around.**

' **Are you… okay?'**

' **Hmm? Oh, yeah', Tyzen replied. 'It's just… when you have a reward on your head, you never know when someone will come to collect.'**

**It occurred to Rey that there was probably a reward on her head by now for aiding in BB8's escape. And Tyzen had had to live like that for some time. No wonder he looked so tired and nervous- it had to weigh you down, always looking over your shoulder. Rey noticed Tyzen was looking at the castle, unease written all over his face.**

' **You think Maz Kanata might want to collect the reward on you? Or us?'**

' **Maz? No. Anyone else in there? Maybe', Tyzen answered. 'Just to be safe, I probably shouldn't go in there. I'm willing to bet any bounty hunters in there won't have even heard of the reward for you or Finn. Me, however… I've been on their radars for over a year, now.'**

' **How big is the reward on your head, anyway?' Rey asked.**

' **Five million credits.'**

**Rey whistled. 'For that sort of money, I might just turn you in myself', she joked, and Tyzen laughed along with her.**

' **Try not to worry', Rey said, as she saw Han and Finn leave the** _ **Falcon**_ **, and motion for her to join them as they walked towards the castle.**

' **Maybe when I come back, you can teach me how to swim', Rey added, motioning towards the lake. Then, because she felt in a particularly flirty mood, all of a sudden, she stood on her toes, and whispered in Tyzen's ear.**

' **Naked.'**

**Tyzen's eyes flared with the same hungry look he usually had when he was ripping her clothes off, and Rey felt satisfied that she had cheered her boyfriend up. She walked off to join their companions, a little spring in her step.**

As Ben saw Rey disappear with the others into Maz's castle, he felt a mixture of lust for his girlfriend's body, love for her overall, and overwhelming guilt that he had been lying to her this whole time. What the hell was he going to _do_?

Then Ben felt the same bloodlust from earlier return. He was absolutely certain, now, that it was Rey who quelled his darker urges, which were now becoming harder and harder to resist every time Rey parted company with him. But why? Maybe there was something in the books about Nihilus Ben had missed, somehow. He returned to the _Falcon_ , and started sifting through the pages, but there was nothing. The only thing that came close was a passage that read as follows:

_In order to prevent his fall into madness, Nihilus often kept several (sometimes even more) Jedi close to him as prisoners, where he would draw on their power in the light side of the Force to keep his mind clear from the darkness plaguing it._

But Rey was not force-sensitive. So how did her mere presence keep Nihilus' power from pulling Ben over the edge?

Ben put the books aside, and rubbed his head. Maybe meditation would help Ben with his problems. He went outside the _Falcon_ , sat cross-legged on the ground, and let his mind wander.

**00000000**

**Rey watched sadly as Finn left with the gang of pirates he'd just joined. When Maz Kanata had pointed them out and said they could get him to the Outer Rim, away from the First Order- he'd never even hesitated. Rey had known Finn less than a day, but she'd begun to think of him as a friend. Then she heard something strange. A song, soft and gentle, mixed in with sounds that were somehow foreign and familiar to her at the same time.**

**As if in a trance, Rey found herself in a corridor underneath the main floor of Maz's establishment. There were doors lining the sides, but Rey felt herself drawn to one in particular. As she opened it, she was greeted by piles of…** _**junk** _ **was the only word that sprang to Rey's mind. Off to one side of the room she'd just entered, Rey felt the song draw her towards a simple, unremarkable wooden box. Opening it, she saw a metal cylinder, with odd designs on its surface.**

**The moment Rey's fingertips touched the cylinder, all hell broke loose. Turning around, Rey noticed she was not in Maz's basement anymore, but a metal hallway. Voices sprang up from all sides as the hallway disappeared and was replaced by rainy battlefield. Suddenly soaked to the bone, Rey saw seven figures in dark cloaks standing across from her, holding strange red laser swords, the handles similar to the one Rey had just touched. The word** _**lightsabers** _ **flashed through Rey's mind as the figures vanished, and, now bone-dry, Rey saw a figure kneeling next to a silver-and-blue droid, an R2 Unit.**

**The vision changed again, and Rey saw the seven dark figures from before approach an old, female Togruta and- Tyzen? Rey blinked in surprise. He looked a little younger, but it was unmistakeably Rey's boyfriend staring down his cloaked opponents as the combatants' lightsabers blared to life. Rey saw flashes of red and white and green bouncing off each other, those wielding the weapons moving with impossible speed, Tyzen included. How… how?**

**Was Tyzen a… Jedi?**

**Yet again, Rey's surroundings changed before her eyes, and she saw herself as a little girl, bawling her eyes out while being tightly gripped by Unkar Plutt, looking at a ship disappearing into Jakku's atmosphere.**

**Then the vision changed again, to another planet, one made of fiery rock. Rey remembered the dream she'd had, a little over a year ago, of this place. The word** _**Mustafar** _ **now flashed through Rey's mind. The planet where, according to Finn, the First Order did battle with Luke Skywalker's son.**

**She saw Tyzen again, looking much closer to the age he was now, dressed in a black cloak. Looking at something Rey couldn't see, his face twisted in grief, Tyzen screamed a terrible scream, filled with rage and pain, and Rey saw countless soldiers in identical white armour- stormtroopers- explode into ashes. Rey remembered Finn saying how at Mustafar, Ben Skywalker had annihilated stormtroopers by simply yelling at them, and her insides twisted. It couldn't be… Tyzen couldn't be…**

**The vision shifted, and Rey saw Tyzen facing down one of the dark warriors, whose red lightsaber now included a crossguard. Tyzen's lightsaber was now coloured red as well, absent a crossguard, and Rey felt her insides turn themselves in knots as she remembered the rest of her dream, that of two warriors in black robes meeting in battle as fire danced around them. So, Tyzen-** _**Ben Skywalker** _ **\- had been one of them. But who was the other?**

**As Rey watched, Ben Skywalker's opponent let loose a burst of lightning from his fingers, raking deep scars in the left side of Ben's face. Then as Ben fell back, he blocked his adversary's blow and severed the other man's weapon hand. Then the visions ended, and Rey fell back onto the floor of Maz Kanata's basement, gasping. She saw Maz standing at the end of the corridor. Rey's vision was blurry, and she realised she was crying freely, tears streaming down her cheeks.**

_**Ben Skywalker is Tyzen. Tyzen is BEN SKYWALKER.** _ **The revelation rumbled around in Rey's head. She'd known, deep down, there had been something Tyzen wasn't telling her in the time they'd been together. Rey had put it down to whatever he'd experienced in the war he'd fought, but this… he… he was** _**Ben Skywalker** _ **…**

' **He's Ben Skywalker', Rey said out loud to herself.**

' **You… know about Ben?' Maz asked, confused.**

**Know** _**about him? I've been** _ **fucking** _**him almost every day for the last month** _ **, Rey thought, as she started laughing through her tears from the shock. She'd grown up on stories of the Skywalker family, and now it turned out one of them was her boyfriend. Was he still? Rey didn't know- her mind was too addled.**

**Maz stared at Rey warily as she wiped her nose, the tears lessening, though Rey could still feel herself shaking.**

' **That lightsaber was Luke's-' Maz began. But Rey wasn't listening. She needed to go somewhere else.** _ **Away from here.**_

**With a clear head, Rey might have understood why Ben had hidden the truth from her. But her head was anything but clear right now, as Rey pushed past the protesting alien and headed out of the corridor, the tears starting up again.**

 


	17. Everybody's got a dark side

Ben sensed Rey's fear and confusion as he caught sight of her leaving Maz's castle. Jumping up from where he had been meditating, Ben sprinted towards Rey. What had happened? Had someone in there recognised her?

As Ben drew closer, he saw that his girlfriend had been crying. Then she caught sight of him, and her face darkened.

'Rey, what's wrong-' Ben began, before Rey's slap across his face cut him off. As he reeled backwards, confused and hurt, Rey spoke two words he really wished she hadn't spoken:

'I know.'

As Ben struggled to process that somehow, Rey had found out who he was, he saw her move past him and head straight for the woods outside the castle. He couldn't blame her for running away. But he owed her an explanation, so he chased after her. It didn't take him long to catch up- Rey was fast, but Ben was faster. As they ran through the forest, Ben managed to tackle Rey to the ground, rolling under her to ensure she wouldn't be hurt.

 _'Get off me!'_ , she screeched, as she pushed him away. But she stayed on her hands and knees, looking like she was going to vomit. Ben crouched down besides her.

**As Rey focused her gaze on the forest floor, she also watched out of the corner of her eye as Tyzen- no,** _**Ben** _ **, she reminded herself- crouched beside her. He looked sad that she had found him out, but Rey was far too angry and upset to feel any sympathy.**

' **I was going to tell you-' he began.**

' **When?' Rey interrupted, her voice getting louder. 'When were you going to tell me you were** **Ben** _ **fucking**_ **Skywalk** _ **-'**_

' **Keep it down', Ben hissed. 'The galaxy can't know I'm here. It's too dangerous for everyone. Including you.'**

**Rey rolled her eyes.** _**Oh, please.** _

' **Let me explain', Ben offered.**

' **Go ahead', Rey said. She was still having trouble processing everything.**

'When I first met you', Ben began. 'I figured that what we had wouldn't be anything more than, well, some fun that we were _both_ in need of. Then as time went on, I realised I wanted more. And I know you did to.'

**Rey tried to snort in disbelief, but it came out as more of a sniffle.**

'I was going to tell you who I was', Ben went on, 'After I'd finished showing you the galaxy. I _was_ going to tell you, Rey, I swear.'

Rey was silent, and Ben took that as his cue to continue. 'Look, I think you're just in shock. Come back with me to the _Falcon_ , I'll explain everything-'

'You _lied_ to me', Rey said.

'Yes, I did', Ben replied. 'But… would you have believed me if I told you the truth?'

**Rey glared up at Ben. She was angry at him, but at the same time, she couldn't deny he was right, and that made Rey even angrier. She would** _**never** _ **have believed Ben if he'd told her who he really was the first time they'd met. And if he'd** _**shown** _ **her… Rey would have run as fast as she could in the opposite direction.**

' **I have to go back', she whispered.**

' **Back?', Ben said. He was confused. Then his eyes cleared. 'Back to… Jakku?'**

**Rey nodded. 'You said you'd take me back if I didn't want to go with you.'**

Ben was dumbstruck. He couldn't blame Rey for being scared of him, but was this what she really wanted? To spend the rest of her days whiling away her time pulling bits of scrap metal off long-wrecked ships?

'Do you _really_ want to go back?' Ben asked.

'Yes', Rey said, defiance in her tone. 'My family will come back for me.'

Ben couldn't stop himself laughing in disbelief.

**Rey realised what Ben was indicating, and she stood up, furious at him, but he was already tearing her flimsy excuse apart.**

'You and I _both_ know that isn't going to happen', Ben said as he stood up to face Rey. He didn't really want to do this to her, but sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind.

'Your family left you on Jakku', he continued, 'and over the last _fifteen years_ , you convinced yourself that they were coming back because otherwise, you never would have survived as long as you have. It would have been too hard without some kind of lifeline to hold on to. But don't you see? You _got out_. You're free and clear. Now you can actually _live-'_

' **I lived on Jakku!' Rey snarled.**

' **No. You only** _ **survived**_ **. There's a difference, and you know that', Ben shot back, his words striking at Rey's heart.**

' **You want to go back to Jakku', Ben said, 'because it's instinct to run back to familiar territory when feeling scared-'**

' **I'm not scared!' Rey feebly protested, the tremors in her voice betraying her fear even as she said the words.**

' **Well, whether you're scared or not, there's no going back', Ben said. 'The First Order will be watching Jakku like hawks. They'll blast us out of the sky before we even get close to the surface.'**

**He was right. Every word he'd said, about everything, was right. Rey knew it, and her bubbling anger started to boil. Who the** _**hell** _ **did this guy think he was? He'd arrived on** _**her** _ **home planet, had taken the life she'd spent the last fifteen years building, and smashed it into a thousand pieces. And thanks to him, she couldn't even try to rebuild it. But, then again, had it really been a life?**

' **You still lied to me', she growled. At the moment, that was all she could think of to counter Ben's argument.**

' **That's true', Ben said. 'And I'm sorry. But I** _ **am**_ **amongst the most wanted people in the galaxy, Rey. What choice did I really have? And what difference does it make, anyway, in regards to how we feel about each other? I love you, Rey, and I know you love me too-'**

' **I loved a lie', Rey retorted. 'Was anything you told me the truth?'**

' **Everything except my name', Ben replied. He reached out to stroke his finger down Rey's cheek, and she shivered in response to how her body** _ **sang**_ **at his touch. No, no, she was angry at him. Wasn't she? It was too much to process.**

' **I love you', Ben repeated, his hands coming up to cup Rey's face. 'I love that even though you had every reason to discard your humanity, you were still willing to help me when I was in need. I love that you're still willing to see the good in people. And I love… that you never judged me for how I looked.'**

**Everything was happening too fast. Rey needed to go away somewhere and regather her thoughts. She felt like she was about to explode with both anger and sadness at the same time, and something… something was happening to her, and she didn't know what it was. But she knew it had something to do with whatever lead her to touch the lightsaber.**

' **Leave me alone', she said, pulling herself out of Ben's arms.**

**Dismay crossed Ben's face. 'Rey-'**

' **I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!' Rey shouted, louder than she'd ever shouted before, and she reached out to push Ben. But before she'd even touched Ben's chest, something… happened. Whatever it was that had now been awoken inside Rey** _ **sprang**_ **out through her hands, and Ben went flying back several metres through the air, crashing into a tree. As he gasped for breath, Rey could only stare. How… she hadn't even** _ **touched**_ **him.**

To say that Ben was surprised by this particular revelation wouldn't have even been close to how he was really feeling. Rey was… force-sensitive. _Rey was force-sensitive?!_ Of all the scavengers he could have picked to fix the _Falcon_ …

The Force was laughing at him now; Ben was sure of it. As he drew himself up, he saw Rey staring at her hands, horror plastered all over her expression. Ben could sense the genuine surprise welling up in her. So, she hadn't been aware of her own power, then. Luke had once told Ben it was not unlikely that some force-sensitives died of old age without ever being aware of the power they possessed.

It also explained how Ben's head seemed to dispose of dark thoughts whenever Rey was around- he must have been unconsciously drawing on her power to keep his mind clear, as Nihilus once had. But that was a matter for another time. Right now, he needed to focus.

Then as Ben took a step towards Rey, about to try and sooth her, he felt a _jolt_ as a shudder ran through his body. Closing his eyes, Ben saw red beams of energy smashing into planets, turning them to ash. But not just any planets. The Hosnian system. Where the Republic was…

Ben fell to his knees as the disturbance in the Force rocketed through him, and he heard the screams of those who died like they were right next to him. Forgetting about Rey for a brief moment, Ben collapsed to the ground and curled into a ball, clamping his hands over his ears though he knew it would not block out the sounds, rocking back and forth as he felt billions upon billions become one with the Force.

**Rey saw Ben slump forward, holding his hands over his ears, whimpers coming from him. For a brief moment, she thought it must have been her, and whatever she had just unleashed, but then she felt tremors running through her, and somehow… she could hear very faint screams… Rey shook her head. What on earth was** _**happening** _ **to her? Then she was startled out of her confusion by the sounds of ships overhead. Ben got up from where he was.**

' **It's the First Order', he said grimly.**

' **Are they here for you?' Rey asked.**

'I don't know', Ben said. 'They're probably here for BB8, but…' he shrugged.

 _Get your head in the fight_.

'We have to get back', Ben said, and he and Rey began sprinting back towards Maz's castle. When they got there, Ben saw the attack had already begun, as TIEs fired on the structure and the AALs began landing on the ground.

'FN-417', hold position', Ben heard, and he saw a lone stormtrooper standing off to the side, poking through the outskirts of the woods. Rey pulled out the pistol Ben had given her and pulled the trigger in the stormtroopers' direction, but it failed to fire.

'Argh, safety', she said. The trooper had noticed them, and as he turned to point his own blaster towards them, Ben yanked the trooper forward with the Force, summoned Nihilus' lightsaber, and sliced through the trooper from hip to sternum, all in one swift movement.

**As the two halves of the trooper fell to the ground, Rey could only stare at Ben and his glowing red lightsaber. He had moved the trooper without touching him. The same way Rey had moved Ben without touching him, barely a few minutes earlier. Was it possible that she was the same way he was? From what little she had learned over the years of the Jedi and the Force, Rey knew it wasn't a power that could simply be given to another. One had to be** _**born** _ **with it. Then she heard a familiar beeping, and she saw BB8 in the distance, rolling towards them. As the droid caught up with them, Rey heard beeps of surprise as BB8 registered what weapon Ben was carrying.**

_You?!_ Ben heard BB8 beep. _YOU'RE Ben Sky-_

'Yes, yes', Ben interrupted. 'No time for that now.'

A battle plan was forming in Ben's mind. 'You two, find cover inside the woods. I'll draw their fire. They'll be so fixated on trying to kill me, they'll never notice you two slipping away.'

' **What?' said Rey, as BB8 beeped his agreement. Despite the shock of Ben turning out to be who he was, Rey found that she was still against him getting hurt, or worse. He may be a Skywalker, but that was a** _ **whole army**_ **out there.**

Ben walked over to Rey. 'Look, I'm probably the last guy you wanna trust right now, but trust me on this: _run and hide_. I'll find you when it's over. Okay?'

He was interrupted by another trooper coming towards them and firing, and Ben used his lightsaber to redirect the blaster fire into the trooper's body. As the trooper fell to the ground, Ben noticed Rey was still gazing at him suspiciously, and he fought off the urge to shake some sense into her.

'Look, Rey', he said, gripping her shoulders and looking directly into her eyes, 'Right now, this isn't about you and me, it's about _surviving_. Do you understand?'

**Rey nodded numbly, looking away from Ben, and he cupped her face again, forcing her to look right into his eyes.**

' _ **Do you understand?',**_ **he repeated, stressing his words this time.**

' **Yes', Rey said. 'Run and hide. I got it.'**

**Ben brought his hands down. 'When this is over, I will explain everything to you. I promise.'**

**Rey nodded again, and started running back into the woods, BB8 hot on her heels.**

Ben turned back to the battlefield, and, for the first time in over a year, allowed Nihilus' robes to wash over his body, the bone-white mask fitting over Ben's face.

Ben caught sight of three stormtroopers running directly towards him. Ben held out his hand, and lightning burst from his fingers, turning the troopers to ash.

They didn't even have time to scream.

 _This is FUN_ , Ben felt the darker parts of himself whisper, as he saw more stormtroopers take notice of what was going on. Ben was so fixated on killing them, he never even noticed Kylo Ren's ship landing some distance away, let alone his fallen cousin walking out of it.

**000000000**

When Kylo Ren saw the black-cloaked, white-masked figure standing on the edge of the forest, red lightsaber in one hand, lightning being blasted from the other, he felt fear. The same fear he'd felt on Mustafar, and Tython before that. The First Order had come to Takodana to find the droid only. Kylo had known the droid was with Ben Skywalker, but he'd secretly hoped that Skywalker had been killed somewhere along the way. Kylo knew he had little to no chance of defeating Skywalker when the latter had Darth Nihilus' power at his command, and he briefly considered organising a full-scale retreat.

'Sir! The droid was spotted heading west, with a girl,' a trooper called out.

 _The scavenger girl._ Why she would be with Skywalker, Kylo didn't know, but he intended to find out. He would go around the forest, avoiding Skywalker, who was now beginning to advance from the forest's edge, cutting down any trooper who got too close. Kylo used the Force to speed his movements around the forest and enter it from the side, reaching out to try and sense where the girl and droid were located.

**0000000000**

As Ben sliced off a trooper's head and blasted two others with lightning, he saw another come at him with a riot baton, humming with electricity. Almost lazily, Ben swung his lightsaber, and was caught off-guard when the blade glanced off the baton. So, the weapon could resist plasma. Interesting.

Ben immediately deactivated his lightsaber, and as the trooper now tried a thrust with the electric baton, the young Skywalker grabbed the weapon with his gloved hands, absorbing the flow of electrical energy into the cloak he wore. The stormtrooper tried in vain to yank his weapon free from Ben's hands, then fell backwards as the latter released his grip. Ben could feel the energy thrumming beneath his fingertips. There was something he wanted to try, and now seemed as good a time as any.

As the stormtrooper got back up, Ben slapped his hands together. _Hard._

The shockwave that resulted from this caused Ben to be blown off his feet, and the stormtrooper to _shatter_ like glass.

 _I'll need a proper stance next time I try that_ , Ben thought, as he dragged himself up and started looking around for the others.

**0000000000**

Finn swung the Skywalker lightsaber at his advancing, baton-wielding opponent. Driven back, Finn was knocked to the ground by the electrical end. As the trooper advanced, Finn heard a _hum_ as what looked like a spinning red wave sliced through the troopers' neck, decapitating him. As the red wave spun back around, Finn was surprised to realise it was another lightsaber, the same colour as the one he'd seen Kylo Ren wield. Then a dark-cloaked figure with a white, skull-shaped mask appeared and snatched the lightsaber out of thin air, using it to vertically slice a trooper in half and redirect a blaster bolt into the heart of another.

'Who _are_ you?' Finn asked from where he was lying down.

'Huh?' the figure asked. 'Oh right, the mask.'

To Finn's shock, the mask and hood accompanying it melted away into shadow to reveal…

'Tyzen?' Finn asked in disbelief.

'What? Oh, yeah. Hang on.' Tyzen stretched out a hand to Finn, and the latter was suddenly confronted with the restored memory of how Tyzen had _really_ defeated the rathtar back on the _Ervana_. Along with the memory of Finn realising Tyzen's name wasn't Tyzen.

'Where'd you get the saber?' Ben Skywalker asked, a quizzical expression on his face, pointing at the weapon in Finn's hand with his own ignited blade. To Finn, the weapon suddenly felt heavier. What right did he really have to wield the Skywalker lightsaber when there was a Skywalker right next to him? At least Skywalker seemed only curious, not hostile.

'Maz gave it to me.' Finn explained as Skywalker stretched out his free hand and helped him up.

'Well, with all the junk she kept, I'm honestly not surprised there was a lightsaber somewhere amongst the mix', Skywalker said, a wry grin spreading across his face. Finn stared. Did Skywalker not know whose lightsaber this had been?

Then Han and Chewie arrived, both of them hesitating as the sight of Skywalker in the robes he was wearing.

**0000000000**

'It's okay, Finn knows', Ben said as he deactivated Nihilus' lightsaber, Han and Chewie visibly relaxing at his announcement. Then he realised Finn was holding the other lightsaber out to him.

'Here, it's yours', the former stormtrooper said.

'Mine?' Ben asked, thoroughly confused.

'It's Luke's lightsaber', Han said quietly.

Ben chuckled as he took the saber from Finn's hands. 'Really? Because this looks _nothing_ like my dad's lightsaber.'

He ignited the blade. 'See? It's not even the same colour-'

 _Not THAT lightsaber_ , Chewie huffed.

It took a moment for the enormity of what Chewie was indicating to strike Ben, but when it did, it hit him like a tsunami of cold water. He was holding the lightsaber that his father had used as a gift from Obi-Wan Kenobi, until Darth Vader struck Luke's hand off on Cloud City. The same saber that Darth Vader had used back when his name was Anakin Skywalker. How much action had this weapon seen? How many people and droids had it killed?

As Ben deactivated the blade and cradled the saber in his hands like a newborn child, he saw a squadron of stormtroopers arrive, pointing their blasters at him.

'Don't move!' the lead trooper commanded.

'Get down.' Ben growled to the others as he reignited his family's lightsaber along with Nihilus', allowing the skull-mask to slip back over his face. The red and blue blades created an interesting contrast as Ben used them to start slicing through the troopers. Ben could practically _feel_ the kyber crystal powering the Skywalker lightsaber pulsing with an almost happy energy, as it found itself in a Skywalker's hands for the first time in over thirty years.

Ben plunged both sabers through a trooper's eyes, then whirled around in a blur and sliced the necks of four more troopers. He then leapt and bounded around the ruins of the castle, easily dodging the blaster fire of the troopers, who he could now sense were growing desperate as their numbers dwindled. TIEs hovered around the battlefield, also firing at Ben, but he redirected their fire back through the cockpits, killing the pilots.

As the TIEs smashed into the grounds, Ben suddenly allowed his shadow-robes and Nihilus' lightsaber to melt away, leaving him with only the clothes he was wearing and the Skywalker lightsaber. As much as he enjoyed the contrasting combination of red and blue, it was starting to feel a little disrespectful to the Jedi weapon. Then Ben landed directly on top of a hill of rubble, standing above the dozens of stormtroopers who remained, all pointing their weapons at him, but not firing. Then Ben deactivated his new lightsaber, and pressed on the side of his head, revealing his scars. He saw the troopers hesitate, and gaze at each other. He could sense their shock… and their realisation as they looked amongst themselves. Ben could hear some of them whispering 'Skywalker'. They knew who he was- good.

'I'm only gonna say this once: if you continue to fight me, you will die. If you run now… I won't go after you,' Ben said.

In response to that, the stormtroopers immediately began firing at him. It was admirable, really, how readily they rushed into a fight they already knew was lost. But Ben had no time for sentiment, as he rushed down the rubble-hill at a speed that defied logic, cutting a swathe through stormtroopers like they weren't even there.

That was when everyone heard the X-wings as the Resistance arrived, soaring over the lake next to Maz's castle.

**000000000**

Kylo Ren eyed the squirming young woman, desperately trying to free herself from his grasp. As he probed through her memories, he saw her and Skywalker together. Ren had to fight the temptation to laugh out loud. It seemed that, yet again, he'd caught a woman beloved by his enemy. Then as Ren continued to search, he saw something very interesting indeed: the map to the elder Skywalker. She'd _seen_ it.

**Rey tried to scream for help, for Ben, for Han, for** _**anyone** _ **, but it was like her jaw was locked. Somehow, the masked creature that had paralysed her was preventing her from even opening her mouth.**

' **The map to Skywalker. You've seen it', she heard him say. 'And… you are in love with his son. A weakness that will prove** _ **very**_ **useful.'**

**Rey tried desperately to flee, to no avail. Any anger she had felt for Ben before now seemed idiotic in hindsight. He may have lied to her, but right now, Rey was so scared she would have given anything for Ben to be here with her.**

**000000000**

As Poe Dameron completed yet another successful round of taking out TIEs, he heard a call coming from one of his comrades, Jess Pava, whose callsign was Blue Three.

'Black Leader, down in the ruins. It looks like a… Jedi.'

Caught off-balance by this new information, Poe immediately redirected his gaze down to the ground, and saw the blue lightsaber blade, held by a young man who appeared to be everywhere at once, moving all over the ruins and cutting stormtroopers to pieces in a manner that was both furious and elegant. Poe saw the man hold out his free hand, and a trooper was launched backwards without his lightsaber-wielding adversary even touching him. Yep, it was a Jedi, all right. Then, as Poe swooped low for a better look, he realised which Jedi it was.

'You're right, Blue Three. But it's not just any Jedi. It's _Ben Skywalker_.'

Ignoring the gasps of surprise from his fellow Resistance pilots, Poe continued. 'And right now, he needs our help. So let's get this done!'

Despite the circumstances, Poe felt a schoolboy's excitement at the anticipation of meeting the son of Luke Skywalker. And he knew the other pilots felt the same way.

**000000000**

'Sir, Resistance fighters have arrived', Kylo Ren heard the trooper say. 'There is a Jedi on the field as well. Scanners confirm it is Ben Skywalker. What are your orders?'

'Pull the division out. We have what we need', Kylo replied, as he used the Force to render the girl- he'd seen in her memories that her name was Rey- unconscious. As he picked Rey up, Kylo thought of how Skywalker would react once he found out his new love was in the hands of his enemy. She would make a useful bargaining tool for what Ren had in mind in regards to Skywalker.

**00000000**

Ben faced down a stormtrooper with a megablaster as the cannon's repeating fire spurted out in his direction. The lightsaber in Ben's hands became a blur as he diverted the blaster fire on the blade. To anyone looking from across the battlefield, it would have been all over before they could blink as the diverted bolts slammed with pinpoint accuracy into a dozen other troopers spread out across what was left of Maz's castle. Ben then yanked the stormtrooper carrying the megablaster forward and cut his head off. Ben turned to see which other troopers he had to kill- and he saw the rest of them running back towards the AALs.

Ben sighed with relief as he deactivated the lightsaber. Truth be told, he wasn't sure how much longer he could have kept going. It had only been a few hours ago that he'd had to fight the First Order on Jakku, then the combined efforts of the Guavian Death Gang, Kanjiklub, and three rathtars on board the _Ervana_ , and now this battle, during which he'd jumped up and down and all around the pitiful remains of Maz's castle to evade the stormtroopers' blaster fire, non-stop for the last half-hour, at least. All in all, Ben was _exhausted_ , to the point where his body was involuntarily shaking from fatigue.

A single thought swam through Ben's tired brain. Rey and BB8- they were still hiding in the woods.

'Rey!' Ben said, as he reached the forest, running through the trees. 'REY!'

There was no answer, so Ben used the Force to calm himself and reached out to try and locate Rey. But there was nothing. Ben was starting to get worried when he heard the sound of BB8 rolling towards him.

'Where is she?' Ben asked the droid. He knew he didn't need to specify who he meant.

 _Taken_ , BB8 beeped mournfully.

'What?!' Ben said. 'Where?'

 _That ship there_ , BB8 beeped, indicating towards the sky, where a familiar-looking shuttle was setting off. _Kylo Ren's shuttle._

Ben felt his rage swell to the surface as he reached out his hands, trying to pull the shuttle down to the ground. Had he been closer to it, at full strength, he would have easily pulled the shuttle down, then stormed it and killed everyone inside to get Rey back.

But the shuttle was already too far away for Ben to get a good grip on it with the Force, and his strength was running on fumes. Yet still he persisted, feeling himself dragged along with the disappearing shuttle. Then as Ben felt himself begin to be lifted off the ground, he felt his body give up, and his vision went white.

**00000000**

Kylo Ren felt the brief pull of Ben Skywalker as his shuttle momentarily struggled through mid-air, then resumed its original speed as Ren sensed Skywalker had stopped.

'Apologies, sir', one of his pilots said. 'Technical difficulties, I believe.'

Kylo knew the truth, but nodded anyway. He gazed at the unconscious scavenger girl, bound in chains.

 _If you only knew how important you are about to be_ , Kylo thought.

**000000000**

Ben slowly opened his eyes as he took in his surroundings. He recognised this place- it was the same cave where he had met Darth Nihilus, that fateful day on Mustafar. And right in front of Ben, lo and behold, was the figure of Darth Nihilus himself, towering over him.

'I am not who you think I am', the figure stated.

Ben blinked. 'If you are not Nihilus… who are you?'

'You', the figure stated.

'Me?'

'Yes. Well, more specifically, the part of you that you are trying to keep locked away. The part of you that becomes harder to resist every time you draw upon the power of the dark side. The part of you that whispers in your ear to do what needs to be done, every time that infernal girl's power is no longer around to distract you.'

So _this_ was the source of Ben's bloodlust, the young Skywalker mused.

'I', the hooded figure continued, 'am Darth Bu'ad. And I am the part of you that will, inevitably, become everything you are.'

With that, the bone-white mask of Nihilus disappeared, and was replaced with the black-and-red beskar helmet Ben had worn when he lead the Ghosts.

Bu'ad… the Mandalorian word for "grandchild". Ben had to admit, it did sound like a name he would choose if he became a Sith Lord. It acknowledged both his Mandalorian heritage and his place as the grandson of Darth Vader.

'Let me out', Darth Bu'ad said from behind the Mandalorian helmet. 'Embrace the dark side completely. Reject the light, and you can save the woman you love, and bring a new order to the galaxy.'

'I will never become a Sith Lord', Ben snarled in defiance.

Darth Bu'ad simply laughed, a cold laugh that was so familiar, it sent shivers down Ben's spine.

'We shall see', Ben's alter-ego jeered. 'As I said, every time you draw upon the power of the dark side, the temptation to become me will grow stronger. Soon, the temptation will be too strong for you to resist.'

'Then I will never draw on the dark side again', Ben said.

Darth Bu'ad laughed even harder as Ben felt himself begin to shift back to his physical body.

 _We both know that is not true_ , Ben heard his Sith Lord-self whisper, as he woke up on the forest floor.

Ben heard BB8 whirring about him, beeping in a concerned manner, but Ben payed the droid no attention, holding his head in his hands as he sat on the ground.

Rey captured by Kylo Ren. The Republic reduced to ashes. And a Sith Lord within Ben, which would only become harder to reject every time Ben drew upon the dark side. And yet, if Ben never drew on the dark side again, he would lose the balance he had in the Force.

Ben had had many bad days in his life. This was shaping up to be amongst the very worst.

Then Ben finally remembered what day it was specifically, and laughed at the irony of it all.

It was his twenty-eighth birthday.

 _Happy fucking birthday to me,_ Ben thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know that due to work commitments, the next few chapters will be coming at a slower rate. Not much slower, but slower.


	18. A family squabble

**As Finn gazed helplessly at the First Order ships disappearing into the sky, he saw Ben Skywalker stumping out of the forest, directly towards him. Finn felt a prickle of fear creep down his spine at the sight of the murderous expression Skywalker was wearing on his face.**

**‘Where are they taking her?’ Skywalker asked in a voice quivering with suppressed rage, pointing in the direction his girlfriend had just disappeared into.**

**‘Probably Starkiller Base. It’s where the weapon that destroyed the Republic is,’ Finn replied, thoughts of the planet which the First Order had converted into a Death Star sweeping through his mind.**

Ben was trying to quell the dark urges within himself. He really was. But the thought of Rey tied to a torture rack, scared and confused while the First Order did who-knows-what to her, was enough to make Ben want to ignite the lightsaber he was carrying and just start swinging out of frustration at his powerlessness to help her. And if they found out she was Force-sensitive… Ren and Snoke could very well twist her to the dark side. The thought of Rey coming after Ben with a red lightsaber was something he could live without.

  All these thoughts and more were replaced by Ben’s realisation that _Blackjack_ was probably nearby, provided that Maz hadn’t sold it off to somebody else. That reminded Ben- provided that Maz was still alive, she had some _serious_ explaining to do as to what gave her the right to keep Ben’s family lightsaber from him. If _Blackjack_ was here, Ben could use it to sneak onto this “Starkiller Base”, then call on Nihilus’ power to help him-

  No, no, Ben couldn’t risk drawing on the dark side anymore. If he did, he could succumb to it completely, become Darth Bu’ad, and then who knew what would happen? Because Ben had the feeling that reciting the code of the Grey Jedi wasn’t going to be enough if he fell into darkness like he had done on Mustafar. As Ben mused over what he could do to save Rey without either getting himself killed or becoming a Sith Lord in the process, he saw a Resistance transport hovering overhead, landing some distance away. For the first time in years, Ben sensed Leia’s presence, and breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe his aunt would know what to do. 

  ‘Where are your scars?’ Finn asked, jerking Ben out of his thoughts.

  ‘I beg your pardon?’ Ben asked. 

  ‘I’m sorry to pry’, the former stormtrooper asked, shifting nervously on his feet, ‘but I heard you had scars on the left side of your face. Was that wrong, or-’

  ‘No’, Ben replied, pressing on the side of his head and revealing the deep gashes. Ignoring the look of surprise on Finn’s face, Ben walked towards the Resistance ship, which had just opened up. 

 **As Leia quietly regarded Han, C-3P0 jabbering on to her husband, her attention was drawn towards the young man walking up towards them. Leia felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of Ben. He was covered in the sweat and grime of battle, and in his eyes was the deep, sad loneliness of a soldier who had been fighting for so long they had forgotten what peace looked like. And the scars… Leia felt a wave of sadness, as she had the first time she saw what her son had done to her nephew. And in the aftermath of that disastrous mission on Mustafar, Ben had reported that he’d cut Jacen’s hand off in return. Was this the destiny of the Skywalker family? To rip each other apart until there was nothing left?**  

  As the gold-plated, red-armed C-3PO walked off with BB8, he caught sight of Ben. Similar to Leia, Ben had not seen the protocol droid his grandfather had built in a long time, but Threepio recognised him all the same. 

  ‘Oh, my! Master Ben! It is I, C-3PO-’

  The droid was cut off by Ben hugging him.

  ‘Good to see you too, buddy’, Ben whispered, as he felt Threepio’s arms hesitantly encircle him in return. Then Ben slowly walked up to his aunt and uncle, where he could hear Han telling his wife that he had seen Kylo Ren. There were no words needed beforehand, as Ben and Leia softly embraced each other.

  ‘I’m glad you’re okay’, Ben heard her whisper.

  ‘You too’, he said, as they broke apart.

  ‘So, you’ve been with Han and Chewie all this time?’ Leia asked, warm humour in her tone. ‘I guess I should’ve known.’

  ‘Well, not the whole time’, Han said.

  ‘Kylo Re-’ Ben began, then seeing the look of pain flash across Leia’s face, changed his tack, ‘Jacen, he… when he was here, he took someone very important to me. I have to get her back.’ 

  **Leia felt another wave of sadness. She had seen how devastated Ben was when he’d reported the loss of his fiancé at Jacen’s hands, and now, it seemed, her son was about to do the same thing again. Leia wanted to believe her son could still return to the light, but she knew Ben would be very hard to convince of _that_ possibility. Leia knew she had to play the politician, now. **

**‘I will do everything I can to help, but first you have to come to D’Qar’, she said. Then, as Ben showed signs of reluctance, Leia played her trump card.**

**‘Ishi’s there. She’ll want to see you, you know that.’**

**The previous week, Duchess Bo-Katan had messaged the Resistance to report that, finally, she was satisfied that the Mandalorian army she’d been organising for over a year now was ready to fight. She’d subsequently sent Ishi, along with a squadron of fighter pilots, to D’Qar, to aid the Resistance while the remaining Mandalorian army mobilised.**

**The Mandalorian pilots were eager to prove themselves in combat, but Leia had refused to send them to Takodana once she’d seen what the First Order’s superweapon had done to the Hosnian system. If the First Order had seen Mandalorian Fang fighters flying alongside Resistance X-wings, the weapon could very well have been turned on Mandalore by now. For now, the Resistance’s alliance with Mandalore had to remain secret. But not for much longer.**

Ben had not been expecting to hear that his sister was at the Resistance base, but he knew Leia was right. Besides, Ishi would probably help Ben get Rey back. So he simply nodded, and reached out with the Force to try and locate Maz. He sensed the old alien was not far away, so he started walking in the direction he could feel her presence coming from.

  ‘Where are you going?’, he heard Leia ask, confused.

  ‘To get my ship. And there’s some questions Maz needs to answer’, Ben replied, brandishing the Skywalker lightsaber. He could feel Leia’s surprise at the sight of her father’s weapon in his hand, as he spied Maz’s short, wrinkly form amidst the ruins of what had been her castle.

**00000000**

**As Maz poked through the ruins, trying to salvage what was left, she felt Ben’s presence. Maz inwardly cursed. When she’d seen Han walk in alone, she’d foolishly assumed that he must have parted ways with his nephew since she’d last seen him, and she hadn’t thought to try and sense Ben with the Force. As Maz turned around, and saw Ben approaching, she realised he was carrying the Skywalker lightsaber.**

**_Uh oh._**

Ben knew that Maz was already upset at the loss of her home, but that didn’t change what she had kept from him.

  ‘How?’ he said, holding the lightsaber out to ensure she knew what he was referring to.

  ‘A good question. For another time’, Maz simply stated, starting to walk past Ben. Unfortunately for her, Ben was all out of patience.

  Not that he’d had much to begin with- he was a Skywalker, after all.

  **As Maz tried to walk past Ben, she was caught off-guard by him igniting the lightsaber, its blade blocking her path. As she looked into his eyes, she saw the rage there for the first time, like a beast just waiting to be unleashed. Maz didn’t need the power of the Force to know Ben would probably kill her if she didn’t answer him, and for the first time in a long time, she felt genuine fear for her life.**

**‘When I heard Luke had lost it on Cloud City, I hired the best scavengers my money could buy to try and find it on Bespin’s surface. Needless to say, they succeeded.’**

**‘Why did you keep it for yourself?’**

**Maz had been dreading that question.**

**‘I…’ she began, then gave up. ‘Because I wanted it. The Jedi told me I was too old for training, so I when I heard there was a lightsaber on Bespin, the Skywalker lightsaber, no less… I…. I had to have it. I was going to give it to your father, but I just… couldn’t’, Maz said, her shoulders slumping as she looked down at the ground, unable to look Ben in the eyes any more.**

Ben still felt angry, but Maz looked so small, and pitiful, and every one of her thousand years, that he couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. He deactivated the lightsaber, and felt, rather than heard, a sigh of relief coming from Maz. He didn’t have time to be threatening her, anyway. Rey was in terrible danger, and Ben had to save her.

  ‘You don’t by any chance still have my ship, do you?’

**‘ _Your_ ship?’ Maz asked. Then as Ben raised an eyebrow, she conceded.**

**‘Alright, _your_ ship. It’s underground. Underneath all… this’, she motioned towards the rubble, which Ben had already begun moving with the Force. As the pathway below them cleared, Maz lead Ben down into the corridor where she had kept the Skywalker lightsaber, then further down, to the hangar where she kept all the ships she had collected over the years. The adjustments that had been made to _Blackjack_ were… impressive, to say the least, so she’d made sure to keep it in pristine condition.**

As Ben caught sight of _Blackjack_ , he smiled. The familiar black-and-red U-Wing, complete with all the less-than-legal modifications Seith had made to it during the time of the Ghosts, had really been more of a home to Ben than anything else he could remember. Then as Maz tapped the buttons on a control panel off to the side, Ben saw the roof of the hangar slide away, opening them up to the sunlight.

  ‘May the Force be with you’, Ben heard Maz say as he climbed into his ship.

  ‘And you as well’, Ben replied. Once he activated _Blackjack_ ’s controls, Ben could swear he heard the engine purring like a kitten.

  ‘I missed you too, girl’, Ben grinned, as he flew his ship out the hangar, joining the Resistance ships as he punched in the coordinates for D’Qar. It would be at least an hour before they got there, so Ben decided to get some sleep as _Blackjack_ made the jump to hyperspace. He was still worried sick about Rey, but he was too tired right now to think straight.

 

 

**0000000000**

  Kylo Ren gazed at the scavenger tied up in the interrogation chair. She was still unconscious, so he busied himself with the message he was about to send. He felt slightly wary about doing what he was doing without first seeking permission from the Supreme Leader, but he had to do _something_ to prove that Snoke had not made a mistake when he chose Kylo, and not Ben Skywalker, as an apprentice. If Kylo gave his master any reason to doubt his choice… he’d be dead on his feet.  

 

**0000000000**

As _Blackjack_ dropped out of hyperspace, Ben caught sight of D’Qar for the first time. It was a beautiful planet indeed, green and full of life. Then as his ship drew closer to the Resistance Base on D’Qar’s surface, he was dismayed by the overall… lack of personnel. Sure, he could see hundreds of Resistance members running about, doing this thing and that thing, but the First Order had hundreds _of thousands_ under its command. The alliance with Mandalore would no doubt prove invaluable in the future. Speaking of which, Ben could see a dozen Mandalorian Fang fighters stationed alongside the X-wings. So, Leia had been telling the truth. But where was Ishi?

  As Ben landed _Blackjack_ on the surface of the Resistance base, he walked out the loading ramp and looked around for his sister. Then he realised someone was tapping him on the shoulder. Turning around, Ben was surprised by the punch that hit him in the chest. 

  ‘Ow!’

  ‘Don’t _ever_ leave again’, Ishi said, as she embraced her brother so he wouldn’t see her tears of joy.

  **‘Poe- I need your help’, Finn said, gripping Poe Dameron’s shoulder. But Dameron was looking past Finn.**

**‘Oh, wow’, the pilot said. ‘Is that…’ he pointed, and Finn saw Skywalker in the embrace of a woman with dark blonde hair.**

**‘Yeah, it is. Who’s she?’**

**‘That’s Ishale Kryze. She’s his half-sister- arrived here last week with a bunch of Mandalorian pilots. I’ve been _dying_ to show them what real flying looks like’, Poe grinned. **

**Finn blinked in surprise. Of course, he’d known there had been Mandalorian troops at Mustafar, but the idea of their whole planet being allied to the Resistance? Wait, now he remembered. Skywalker’s mother was the daughter of Mandalore’s Governess. _Of course_ Mandalore would be with the Resistance. **

‘It’s good to see you’, Ben said, as he and Ishi broke apart, ‘but we need to get moving. Kylo Ren, he… he took my girlfriend, Rey.’

  ‘Yes, I know’, Ishi said, sadly.

  ‘What?’ Ben was confused. ‘How could you _possibly-_ ’

  ‘A transmission came in, about ten minutes ago’, Ishi explained, as she started walking Ben towards the base’s command centre. As they entered the underground cavern, which was littered with bits and pieces of technology, Ben noticed for the first time that Ishi was wearing a blue-and-white Mandalorian pilot’s uniform.

  ‘What’s with the new threads?’

  ‘Grandmother’s orders. I’m the leader of Skull Squadron, now.’

  ‘Skull Squadron?’ Ben asked. He recognised the name well enough. Skull Squadron had been the fighter pilots of the Protectors of Concord Dawn. They’d fought for the Republic during the Clone Wars, then the Empire afterwards before defecting to the Rebellion. All that time, they’d been lead by the legendary Mandalorian pilot Fenn Rau. Rau had been dead for years now, but those were some big shoes to fill. Ben didn’t envy Ishi for having to fill them. Not one little bit.

  They arrived in the conference room, where a selection of elderly Resistance commanders and Leia herself were stationed. Ben recognised the Mon Calamari, Admiral Ackbar, from documentaries he’d seen of the Galactic Civil War, but that was about it. They all recognised him, though. He could tell by the way they looked at him, like they were sizing him up, waiting to see if he was a Luke, or if he was a Vader. Ben had seen that look often enough.

  ‘Ben- good, you're here’, Leia said. ‘This… well…’ she pressed a button, and a hologram came from the projector in the middle of the room. An image of Kylo Ren appeared. 

  ‘This is Kylo Ren of the First Order, with a message for the galaxy. Your Republic is decimated, their fleets broken and weak. The Resistance will follow shortly afterwards, as will the Mandalorian traitors who have allied with them.’ 

  Ben felt like his guts were twisting at the thought of Mandalore reduced to a pile of ash like the Hosnian system.

  ‘Unless…’

  Ren paused for effect, then continued. ‘Benjamin Skywalker, I now speak directly to you. You know what I have taken from you. You know what I will do to her. Come to Starkiller Base, and your beloved will be released. Your planet, and the Resistance, will be spared the fury of the First Order.’

  ‘Come to me, Skywalker, and no one else dies.’

  With that, the message ended, and Kylo Ren’s image flickered away.

  ‘Apparently, this transmission aired all over the galaxy’, Leia stated.

  ‘Why would Ren ask for you specifically?’ A Resistance officer with white hair and a beard asked, looking at Ben.

  _Family business_ , Ben was about to reply in jest, then saw Leia give just the tiniest shake with her head. Did her subordinates not know who Kylo Ren really was? No, of course not. They’d abandon Leia in an instant.

  ‘I didn’t just beat him at Mustafar. I _humiliated_ him’, Ben answered. ‘My theory is, his master wants him to prove himself by killing me.' 

  That wasn’t exactly a lie, either. The Resistance commanders appeared to accept it, so Ben turned to go.

  ‘What are you doing?’ He heard Leia ask.

  ‘You heard what he said’, Ben stated. ‘What choice do I really have?’

  There was silence. Then…

  ‘Everyone, will you excuse my nephew and I for a moment?’

 

**0000000000**

When Snoke heard of the challenge his apprentice had issued Ben Skywalker, he was… impressed. Finally, Kylo Ren was showing some initiative. For now, the Supreme Leader would wait, and see how this played out. If Ren defeated Skywalker in the inevitable fight that was to come, his apprentice would have proven himself worthy. If Skywalker defeated Ren… well, then, Snoke would use that tragedy to twist Skywalker to the darkness. Snoke knew he was close already, and killing Ren may just push him over the edge.

  Either way, Snoke won.

**0000000000**

  ‘I’m sorry, what?!’ Ben said to Leia. It wouldn’t do to start a shouting match within earshot of the people Leia commanded, even though he felt like it with what Leia had just said.

  ‘You heard me’, Leia said, her gaze and tone holding fast, ‘you can’t go’.

  ‘If I don’t, Rey dies. Everyone here dies. Everyone on _Mandalore_ dies-’

  ‘I understand your need to protect those you care about’, Leia replied, ‘but it’s a trap. You _know_ it’s a trap-’

  ‘ _Of course_ I know it’s a trap’, Ben snapped back. ‘Which will be made quite irrelevant once I rescue Rey, and burn this Starkiller Base down with Kylo Ren still inside it.’

  He saw pain flicker across Leia’s expression again at the moniker her son had taken on, but Ben had it all worked out. Once he got there, he would locate Rey, then take on Nihilus’ form. As long as he was drawing on Rey’s power, he wouldn’t fall to the dark side. It was a less-than perfect plan, with an _extremely_ high chance of failure, but he knew Leia was guilty of making many such plans herself. Why shouldn’t he?

  **Leia knew she had to navigate this part of the conversation carefully. There was no telling how Ben would react if he took it the wrong way.**

**‘I say it is a trap because Snoke is trying to twist you to the dark side, as… as _he_ was,’ Leia began.**

Ben had seen the look in Leia’s eyes once she’d described Jacen as _he_. It was a look of despair, failure, but also… hope. Hope? For what?

  Then Ben realised what was really going on. _Oh, Leia. You CANNOT be serious **.**_

 **** **‘The First Order will never accept surrender from the Resistance, or Mandalore. If you go to Starkiller Base, they will make you watch as they destroy both, to try and push you over the edge. I know that I am asking you to abandon someone close to you, but you _cannot_ allow your personal feelings to cloud your judgement,’ Leia stressed. **

**‘Really?’, Ben asked, a dark smirk on his face. ‘What do you think _you’re_ doing right now?’**

**‘What is _that_ supposed to mean?’ Leia asked angrily. **

  ‘Oh, cut the shit,’ Ben snarled. ‘What you said may very well be true, but that is _not_ why you don’t want me to go. You still think _he_ can return to the light, don’t you?’

  Leia was silent as she looked away.

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes’, Ben said. ‘Have you not _seen_ what he’s has been doing? Have you even bothered to look? Do you not _know_?!’

  ‘Of _course_ I know! Of _course_ I’ve seen!’ Leia’s gaze snapped back to Ben’s. They were both shouting now, definitely loud enough for others to hear them outside the room they were in, but they had both stopped caring.

**‘He can still come back from this’, Leia stressed. ‘If my father could, so can my-’**

**‘What would have happened if Vader had survived?’ Ben interrupted.**

**Leia hesitated. ‘I… I don’t know.’**

**‘Yes you do’, Ben stated matter-of-factly. ‘He would have been tried for his crimes by the Senate, then executed. Well, there’s no more Senate, now. No more Republic, either. Should Kylo Ren get a free pass because of that?’**

**The fact that Ben referred to his cousin by his moniker and not his birth name, in such a casual way, was a shard of glass in Leia’s heart.**

**‘He _murdered_ my fiancé, right in front of me’, Ben said. ‘He’s taken my girlfriend now, and will kill her, the Resistance and _destroy_ my home if I don’t go to him. And that’s just what he’s done to _me_. How much misery and pain do you think he’s been dealing out to others, these last _six years_? How many people has he robbed of their parents, their _children_? I may be a killer, but Kylo? He’s a goddamed _monster_ , and bringing him back to the light isn’t going to change what he’s done.’ **

**Ben wasn’t wrong. Leia knew that. He may not be right, but that didn’t make him wrong, either. But she had to at least _try_ to bring her son back to the light. She just _had_ to. **

  **‘If it were someone else, what would you be doing?’ Ben suddenly asked.**

**‘What?’ Leia asked, although she had an inkling where this was going.**

  **‘If it was another of my dad’s apprentices who’d fallen to the dark side, and they’d killed Jacen in the process, you wouldn’t be asking me to stay my hand. You’d be _ordering_ me to go to Starkiller Base and kill them.’**

**Leia realised this was the perfect opportunity for politics.**

  **‘You’re right’, she admitted. ‘You are. Which is why I’m asking you now… if you can be stronger than I would be.’**

‘Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere’, Ben said through gritted teeth, trying to keep his anger in check. ‘I’m going to Starkiller Base _right now_. AND IF YOU OR ANYONE ELSE TRIES TO STOP ME, I’M GONNA KILL _EVERYONE_ IN THIS FUCKING-’

  Ben’s bellowing voice was cut off by the lights in the room suddenly exploding into shards, peppering the room with glass.

  **‘Ben, honey, just _calm down_ ,’ Leia said, holding her hands up, trying to quell the fear of seeing her nephew’s eyes blossoming with the sickly yellow of the dark side. How could she have been so _stupid_? She been so focused on returning her son to the light, she’d never even considered the thought that her nephew might be slipping into the darkness.**

 _Flowing through all, there is balance_ , Ben thought, as closed his eyes and dug his nails into his palms, trying to get through the rest of the Grey Jedi’s code.

  **Eventually, Ben opened his eyes, which had returned to their usual green. Leia saw his hands were bloody.**

  ‘Rey, she… she’s not just my girlfriend,’ Ben began. He told Leia what had happened on Mustafar with Nihilus, and how Rey was able to stop him from completely succumbing to the dark side.

**‘So if I _don’t_ go and get her…’ Ben’s voice trailed off, and Leia was forced to accept the truth of the matter. She couldn’t allow Ben to go, but he couldn’t stay, either. Fortunately, there was a way out of this.**

**‘I have an idea’, Leia said. ‘But it all rests on the stormtrooper you brought with you.’**

**00000000000**

At the news that Finn had actually worked on Starkiller Base, Ben’s hopes started to raise. As the ex-trooper went off with Admiral Ackbar to tell him everything he knew about the base, Ben busied himself with asking Ishi how everything had been going on Mandalore in the last year. Apparently, Seith was now in charge of making weapons for Mandalore’s new army, which according to Ishi now had two thousand troops who’d completed their training, with more than fifty thousand to follow them. Desric, meanwhile, had been placed in charge of training the troops in methods of slicing, and had also been given command of a squadron.

As for their two younger sisters- Lizzy and Mayli were both amongst the first crop of graduates, and, according to Ishi, eager to fight alongside their elder siblings. All in all, it seemed that what Ben had to do was simply go to Mandalore and pick the army up.

  Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. The warrior traditions of Mandalore demanded that anyone who wished to lead an army of theirs had to undergo a series of tests known simply as the “Trial”. Those who passed would wield the Darksaber and instantly assume command, but could still be challenged for their position of leadership at any time, by anyone.

  As Ben wondered whether or not he would be able to use his powers to pass the Trial, Leia called the Resistance in for what was to come next.

 

**0000000000**

  Kylo Ren hurriedly walked out of the interrogation room, bewildered by the sudden turn of events that had just transpired. As incredible as it seemed, the scavenger Rey was strong with the Force, and she’d managed to resist his attempts to probe her mind.

  _She must be Skywalker’s apprentice as well as his lover. He’s trained her to resist me._

  Kylo’s confidence was slipping. Skywalker was coming here to rescue his apprentice/lover, Kylo was sure of it. They had already tried to kill each other twice before. Had it not been for the circumstances outlying their duels, Skywalker would have won both times. In the inevitable third duel that was to come, Kylo would have to hit Skywalker with everything he had. While it would be far easier to blow his ship out of the sky when he arrived, Kylo knew Snoke would not approve.

  The Supreme Leader respected both strength and ingenuity, but the former much more than the latter. Then a stormtrooper arrived to tell him Snoke had requested his presence, and Kylo felt very nervous at what he had to say.

  **Rey reflected on the moment she had glimpsed into Kylo Ren’s mind and seen his fear that he would never be strong as Vader. But that was not all she’d seen. She knew now that he was scared of Ben as well, and to conquer that fear, he’d summoned Ben to where they were, to come get her. She remembered the moment when Ben had said he’d never wanted to drag her into his world. She could see why, now, but that didn’t change the fact that she was now a part of this world, and if Ben did come, he would never leave this place alive. Rey wasn’t sure what she felt for her ex-but-not-really-boyfriend, but she knew that the galaxy wouldn’t be done any favours if one of its last hopes died.**

 **But how to get out of here? As Rey gazed at the single stormtrooper who’d been placed in the room to guard her, she recalled a very distant memory of a story she’d heard of the Jedi, where they could make people do things against their will by simply _telling_ them to.**

**_Hmmm…_**


End file.
